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Dear fellow citizens of the Americas As Director of the Department of Sustainable Development
of the Organization of American States (OAS)
it is a real pleasure to invite you to take part in this Virtual Consultation Forum
with Civil Society and social actors
The forum is being organized as part of the preparations of the
Second Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development
to be held in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic from the 4th to the 6th of November 2010.
Since the First Inter-American Meeting, held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia,
OAS Member States have been working with the Department of Sustainable Development
in a clear focused and cooperative agenda
inspired by the Declaration of Santa Cruz + 10 and the Inter-American Program on Sustainable Development
The Second Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development
will identify and advance concrete partnerships at the national, regional and hemispheric level
to integrate environmental considerations
into development, poverty alleviation, and social and economic policies.
The virtual forum will start on September 15 and will end October 15, 2010.
It is intended to facilitate the discussion on five issues under the broad theme
“Towards Sustainable Development in the Americas,”
and the themes are as follows:
(1) Firstly we will look back on the Declaration of Santa Cruz + 10
and the progress that has been made in implementing the recommendations of the declaration.
(2) We will also look back on the implementation of the Inter-American Program on Sustainable Development (2006-2009).
(3) we will examine the issue of Vulnerability in the Context of Sustainable Development
a theme that is very important to the Americas.
(4) We will also examine Risk Management and Planning; as well as
(5) Institutional and management arrangements related to climate change.
I know you will agree that these themes are timely and important
as they reflect issues that are of immediate concern to the people of the Americas.
It is my hope and the hope of all of us here at the
Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) that the Ministerial Meeting
will help OAS Member States to refine their positions in advance to the
16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change.
The COP, as it is called, is a very important event
that hopefully will result in clear actions in climate change adaptation and mitigation,
as well as on the financing mechanisms to implement these actions
As well it is hoped that the meeting will help to build a stronger risk management ethic in the region
a region that is extremely vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards
I hope we can count on you on your participation in the forum
and that you will share your ideas readily
your concerns and recommendations on the various themes that are available for discussion
I thank you.