The 44th Regular Session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) was held from June 3rd to the 5th, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General of Belize, Wilfred Elrington, headed Belize’s delegation to the high level meeting, which was held in Asuncion, Paraguay.
According to a Government of Belize (GOB) press release issued today, the session was conducted mainly for hemispheric leaders to “commit their efforts to eradicating hunger and poverty, in particular extreme poverty, combating inequity, discrimination, and social exclusion; and increasing equitable access to health services as well as to quality and inclusive education – priority objectives which should inform actions of the inter-American system.”
Minister Elrington, in the release, spoke of Belize’s efforts towards social inclusion and highlighted government’s pro-poor policies such as the conditional cash transfers, the food pantry, and a program to provide monetary support to elderly citizens over the age of 65.
The General Assembly also adopted a resolution calling on the international community to renew support for the OAS Fund for Peace, established in 2000, which is a tool to enable the organization to raise financial resources to fulfill the mandate established in its founding Charter of strengthening peace and security, preventing conflicts, and resolving disputes among member states, which happens to be the principal channel for assisting Belize and Guatemala to implement confidence building measures, to maintain the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone and to find a final and definitive resolution of the Guatemala claim.
The Belize delegation included Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Alexis Rosado, who is Belize’s Ambassador to the USA; Permanent Representative of Belize to the OAS, His Excellency Nestor Mendez; and Minister Counselor and Alternate Representative of Belize to the OAS, Ms. Ardelle Sabido.
The meeting was held under the theme “Development with Social Inclusion”.