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Agreement between the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Women

Done at: Washington

Date enacted: 1978-05-05

In force: 1978-05-05

Content

Whereas:

On June 16, 1933, the Council of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Women signed an agreement to determine the relations that should exist between the two entities;

The Protocol of Buenos Aires amended some provisions of the Charter of the Organization of American States with reference to the specialized organizations;

Article 134 of the Charter of the Organization of American States provides that the relations that should exist between the inter-American specialized organizations and the Organization of American States shall be defined by means of agreements concluded between each organization and the Secretary General, with the authorization of the General Assembly;

The Inter-American Commission of Women is a specialized organization of the Organization of American States;

The Inter-American Commission of Women was established by a resolution of the Sixth International Conference of American States in 1928;

'The Ninth International Conference of American States approved the Organic Statute of the Commission, which invested it with the character of a permanent entity, and provided that its Permanent Secretariat should function at the offices of the Organization, within the limits of an agreement to be concluded between the Council of the Organization and the Commission;

The Fifth Special Assembly of the Inter-American Commission of Women approved a new Organic Statute for the Commission, which confirms its status as a permanent entity and the fact-that the Secretariat of the Commission shall function at the offices of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States;

At its second regular session, the General Assembly of the Organization approved standards for the implementation, and Coordination of the Provision of the Charter Relating the Inter-American Specialized Organizations (Res.87) and, through Resolution 88, authorized the Secretary General of the Organization, in agreement with the representatives of the specialized organizations concerned, to sign new agreements in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the Organization and the aforementioned standards;

The Seventeenth Assembly of the Inter-American Commission of Women, held in Washington, D.C., from 16 to 23 September, 1974, authorized the President to conduce an agreement with the Organization of American States;

At its meeting held on May 6, 1976, the Executive Committee of the Commission decided to submit to the Eighteenth Assembly for its decision the document presented by the Secretariat on the OAS/CIM Agreement (doc.CIM/CD/doc.51/76)[1] ; and

It is advisable to conclude a new agreement between the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Women.

Therefore:

The Organization of American States, on the one hand, hereinafter called the "Organization," represented by its Secretary General, Mr. Alejandro Orfila, and the Inter-American Commission of Women,on the other, hereinafter called the "Commission," represented by its President, Lic. Gabriela Touchard Lopez, have concluded the following

[1]

The Eighteenth Assembly of the Inter-American Commission of Women held in Miami, Florida on July 27 - August 5, 1976, approved the terms of this agreement, now signed between the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Women.

Agreement

Headquarters

Article 1

The Commission's headquarters shall be the same as that of its Permanent Secretariat.

Technical autonomy

Article 2

The Commission shall enjoy the broadest technical autonomy but must bear in mind the recommendations of the General Assembly and of the Councils of the Organization, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the Organization.

Advisory and information functions

Article 3

The Commission shall render technical advisory services to the General Assembly and the Councils of the Organization in matters within its competence. Also, it shall provide available information to any other organ of the Organization upon its request.

Changes in the structure, functions or bases of the Commission

Article 4

The Commission shall inform the Permanent Council of the Organization of any change in the structure or functions of the Commission.

Coordination

Article 5

The programs and activities of the Commission and of the Organization shall be carried out in such a way as to avoid duplication of efforts and expenditures and to make it possible for the activities of the Commission, the General Secretariat, and the other organs of the Organization to complement each other.

Article 6

In establishing cooperative relations with world organiza¬tions of the same kind, the Commission shall strive for a suitable coordination of activities and maintain its identity and position as an integral part of the Organization even when it is performing regional functions of international organizations.

Conferences and other meetings

Article 7

The Commission and the Organization shall exchange informs on any Initiative taken in connection with holding specialized conferences and other inter-American meetings.

Article 8

The Commission shall inform the Organization of the dates of the conferences and meetings it proposes to hold, including those of its general assemblies, and of the respective draft agendas, so that the appropriate organ of the Organization may make the necessary observations regarding coordination of these dates and agendas with those of other conferences and meetings. The Commission shall also send the General Secretariat of the Organization, for its information, a schedule of its conferences and meetings.

Article 9

The General Assembly, the Councils of the Organization and the Commission may make recommendations to each other for the inclusion of topics on the agendas of their respective conferences and meetings.

Article 10

Representatives of the Commission may attend the sessions of the General Assembly and meetings of other organs, agencies and entities of the Organization, with the right to voice but without vote. In turn, the organs of the Organization may be represented at meetings of the Commission with the right to voice but without vote. In both cases, the corresponding rules of procedure shall be observed.

Exchange of publications

Article 11

The General Secretariat of the Organization and the Commission shall maintain a full exchange of publications.

Reports to the General Assembly

Article 12

The President of the Commission shall send annual reports on its activities, budgets and accounts to the General Assembly of the Organization, through the General Secretariat. These reports shall include a special chapter on the steps that have been taken to coordinate the programs and activities of the Commission with those of the other programs of the Organization.

Permanent Secretariat

Article 13

From an administrative standpoint, the Permanent Secretariat of the Commission shall function as part of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. As such, its expenditures shall form part of the program-budget of the Organization. In its technical aspect, it shall carry out the directives and resolutions set forth by the Assembly.

Staff

Article 14

The Secretary General of the Organization shall appoint the Executive Secretary of the Commission in accordance with the regulations of the General Secretariat and of Article 26 of the Organic Statute of the Commission. The Secretary General shall also appoint the staff of the Permanent Secretariat, who shall be considered as staff members of the General Secretariat of the Organization.[2]

[2]

Text of Article 26 of the Organic Statute of the Commission in force on the date that this Agreement was signed: "Article 26. The respective office shall be under the supervision of an Executive Secretary appointed for a five-year term by the Secretary General of the OAS, taking into consideration the opinion of the Executive Committee, and eligible for reappointment."

Program and budget

Article 15

In accordance with the recommendations of the General Assembly of the Commission and the financial regulations in force in the General Secretariat of the Organization, the President of the Commission,on a date established by the General Secretariat, shall present to the latter for its customary processing the preliminary draft program-budget of the Commission for the following fiscal period. Any necessary adjustments in this preliminary draft program-budget that affect the programs of theCommission shall be settled in consultation between the Secretary General of the Organization and the President of the Commission.

The Secretary General of the Organization shall include the necessary items for the Commission in the proposed program-budget of the Organization, as part of the proposed program-budget of the General Secretariat in accordance with Article 25 of the Organic Statute, which items shall also be subject to the regulations in force in the General Secretariat.[3]

[3]

Text of Article 25 of the Organic Statute of the Commission in force on the date that this Agreement was signed: "Article 25. The Permanent Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission of Women shall function at the office of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, in conformity with the agreement referred to in Article 134 of the OAS Charter. The preliminary proposed program and budget of the Inter-American Commission of Women, duly approved by the Executive Committee, shall include the expenses of the offices, the President, and of the Permanent Secretariat."

Miscellaneous provisions

Article 16

Relations between the Organization and the Commission shall be governed by the provisions of the Charter of the Organization and those of the present Agreement.

Article 17

This Agreement may be amended by mutual accord between the President of the Commission, with the authorization of the Assembly of Delegates of the Commission, and the Secretary General of the Organization, with the authorization of the General Assembly of the Organization.

Article 18

The Agreement between the Council of the Organization and the Commission, signed on the sixteenth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty-three, shall be void on the date that the present Agreement enters into force.

Article 19

The present Agreement shall enter into force on the date it is signed by the representatives of both parties.

In witness whereof the representatives of the parties, duly authorized to do so, sign this Agreement in two equally valid originals in Washington, this fifth day of May of the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-eight.