Madam Chair, Ambassador Carmen Maria Gallardo, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations and Chair of the Working Group on Lessons Learned
Distinguished Permanent Representatives and delegates
Ambassador Isaac Aggrey, Special Representative of the ECOWAS President in Guinea-Bissau
Mr. Otobo, Deputy Director of the Peace Building Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen

Introductory Remarks

I would like to thank the United Nations Peace Building Commission for this invitation to speak before the Working Group on Lessons Learned on how the OAS and the UN through the Peace Building Commission can strengthen their collaboration in the Americas, particularly in Haiti.

Let me take this opportunity to commend Brazil’s leadership in Haiti as well as that of UN MINUSTAH.

1. I am very pleased to observe that the Peace Building Commission recognizes the importance and value of working with Regional Organizations in areas of peace and security. There is no that doubt regional organizations have a specific approach to peace building that is particularly relevant for improving the relationship between national and international actors. The convening power, political dialogue and consensus-building capacity of the regional organizations are ultimately the most effective conflict-mitigation mechanisms regional organizations have to offer to their member states.

2. Given the time allotted and the breath, width and depth of this topic, I will limit my presentation to the following three elements:
 First some general remarks on the work of the OAS in peacebuilding and in particular some lessons drawn from our experiences.

 Then I will identify a few priority areas where I believe the joint OAS/PBC efforts could be effective. These priorities are derived from countries where the OAS has engaged in peacebuilding efforts such as in Haiti, Guyana, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize, among others. I will also highlight some important opportunities for peacebuilding assistance in Haiti.

 I will close with some suggestions on how the OAS and the UN/PBC can work together in future peacebuilding efforts.

I. General Remarks

1. There is a need for a holistic approach to peacebuilding; democracy, integral development and multidimensional security are inherently interrelated and mutually reinforcing peace building components. Therefore, this must include:
- ensuring the participation and buy-in of all stakeholders in the peacebuilding process
-building capacity for local management of conflicts at all levels
- creating, sustainable, safe and peaceful environments to facilitate economic growth (Guyana and Haiti).

2. The OAS is best known for four main peace building programs: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti and Colombia. In all these cases, the OAS provided support in a crisis or post-conflict situation with an array of different activities; each designed to contribute to meeting general goals and objectives shared by the parties involved.

3. The OAS Political Affairs Department monitors political developments, as do the 28 country office directors of the Organization. Through our staff on the ground, OAS ensures timely and context-specific analysis of ongoing political events, possible tensions and potential conflicts in the region.

4. The Inter-American Democratic Charter and the provisions for in-country assessments have proven to be valuable frameworks for promoting democratic governance and peaceful relations within member states. Long term electoral observation missions have also played a positive role in sustaining democratic order and have had a positive impact on peace and stability within countries of the region.

5. Missions from the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General, high-level delegations of the Permanent Council, Special Envoys, long-term special representatives and Special Post-conflict Missions, as well as Technical Assistance and Support to countries provide an opportunity for quiet diplomacy, crises prevention and conflict mitigation.

6. While most OAS missions differed in their general mandate, content and structure they all had one important feature in common: they all contained a training and capacity building component in the area of conflict resolution, with an explicit strategy of strengthening national and local capacities in this regard.

7. Peacebuilding is not simply avoidance of conflict but a consistent and systematic investment in consolidation of political stability, social cohesion, and national security.

8. Effective efforts at peacebuilding require an inclusive approach i.e. developing peacebuilding mechanisms that are deployed at the community as well as the national level. Efforts at helping countries consolidate peace must also be designed with a full appreciation of the fact that domestic considerations and approaches may have cross border implications.

9. Peacebuilding mechanisms while elaborated with the best of intentions to confront extant challenges must be forward thinking and flexible enough to (i) respond and adapt to new challenges and (ii) be able to respond to unintended consequences. In almost all cases, even successful peacemaking efforts are plagued by unintended consequences.

10. Peacebuilding processes benefit from a process of continuous evaluation. Objective review provides critical information for decision makers to determine how and whether to move forward with an existing strategy or to initiate a tactical or policy shift to confront new challenges.

Hemispheric Political Context:

1. The political landscape of the Americas has changed dramatically over the past decades. Certainly, the Western Hemisphere has experienced tremendous gains in terms of democratic governance, representative electoral democracy, economic development and human rights.

2. As a consequence of this democratization process, some of the longest running electoral democracies can be found in the Americas. Today many countries in the Western Hemisphere have periodic free and fair elections. However, this is just one aspect of democracy-building and much more work remains to be done in areas such as participatory democracy, public policy making, and the capacity of state institutions to respond to the myriad of social needs. All of these factors have an impact on the ability of governments to secure adequate levels of development, security and social justice for all sectors of our societies.

3. As recent political developments suggest, the challenges to democracy in many countries begin not with elections, but after governments assume power. The quality of governance in the period that follows elections must be analyzed within the context of effective delivery of social and economic goods.

4. Despite our positive assessment of democratic development in the region, there are a number of countries which continue to experience difficulties in establishing peace and stability. The establishment of legal, constitutional frameworks or as it is called formal democracies is not sufficient to make democracies flourish and ensure peaceful stable societies.

5. In our experience the complexity of today’s diverse and contemporary societies dictate that maintaining peaceful relations among the various stakeholders in a given society requires a democratic framework which includes a genuine concern for human rights, capacity for social and economic development, accountability, building consensus pluralistic, diverse societies, improving electoral processes, and promoting public involvement in policy setting.

6. I believe that the origins of most socio-political conflicts, civil wars and border disputes can be traced to structural deficiencies in our governance systems, policies and legal frameworks, thus it is clear that the international community must organize its peace building and prevention work to respond to both structural and relational causes of conflict.

II. Key Areas of Assistance

7. Peacebuilding assistance must ensure member state consent and support and in peacebuilding strategies.
8. The international community must ensure ownership and buy-in from domestic actors by collaborating with all stakeholders to achieve the highest level of success.
9. The international communities must be ready to use available windows of opportunity effectively and in a timely manner.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, there are five clearly defined areas which continue to be essential to sustaining democratic governability in the region:

i. the strengthening of democratic institutions
ii. strengthening of state institutions (modernization of the state) especially in the areas of the judiciary and security
iii. the promotion of dialogue and consensus-building mechanisms between different sectors of society
iv. the empowering and inclusion of civil society in the public-policy making process
v. natural disaster assistance and mitigation

III. Potential Collaboration between the UN/PBC and OAS

But even as the OAS continues to respond to the pressing concerns of Member States; such as strengthening democratic institutions, and providing political support in the event of a democratic crisis, we are aware that more can be accomplished through strategic partnerships with organizations like the UN, the EU and other sub-regional organizations working in our region.

1. We must continue to strengthen collaboration between the UN and OAS general secretariats in a consistent, ongoing and structured manner.

2. We must also strengthen country-level collaboration through existing institutional channels such as OAS country offices and other coordination mechanisms (i.e. OAS Haiti Task Force /Group of Friends of Haiti). For example, recently on April 2nd, we invited the head of UN/DPKO for a briefing of UN work in Haiti to all OAS members’ states, permanent observers and representatives of international financial institutions.

3. The strengthening of regional mechanisms for political dialogue, conflict prevention and confidence building between actors/countries/subregions is essential to organizations like the OAS. In this regard, strengthening regional institutional capacity to work on cross-border issues which generate conflict among countries would be an area the PBC can support. OAS efforts in Belize-Guatemala and in Ecuador-Colombia should be prioritized as they are critical to hemispheric peace and security.

4. The Peace Building Commission could devise a consultation process with Regional Organizations on best practices in peace building. In this regard, I have been advocating the establishment of an annual conference to analyze successful interventions of regional and sub-regional institutions (CARICOM, Comunidad Andina and SICA) in specific targeted countries. This would allow for more intra-regional collaboration, systematic and effective follow-up on peacebuilding actions, improved cooperation among multilateral organizations working in a host country, and more targeted assistance to avoid a return to crisis situations. The OAS could benefit from sharing its experiences with other regions around the world and vice versa (EU, African Union and Council of Europe). Exchanges on constitutional reform, the strengthening of parliaments and promotion of dialogue mechanisms are areas where both the Commission and the OAS can exchange lessons learned (i.e. African Union).

5. Perhaps one area where the PBC and the OAS could work together substantively is in the area of conflict reduction strategies. This implies a special focus on enhancing local level political authority, policing and monitoring, the protection of human security and human rights. Strengthening regional organizations’ capacities for early warning and information sharing is as equally important.

6. UN and OAS should support each others’ missions in the respective countries, through high-level statements, press releases and news media. One example of this was the UN Secretary General’s statement supporting OAS efforts in Haiti and Ecuador-Colombia.

IV. Concluding Remarks

1. In terms of democratic strengthening, governments alone cannot create stability, prosperity and security; it is a collective societal responsibility. Democracy-building must be viewed as a continuous process, which requires the establishment of structured, regular, and institutionalized dialogue mechanisms between civic and governmental actors.

2. In developing a long-term peace building framework, the international community needs to simultaneously include both political and developmental priorities – again, focusing on promoting a mutually re-enforcing agenda.

3. Peacebuilding support, pre- or post-conflict, must be designed and developed to respond to the objective needs of the targeted country and must be perceived as relevant by local communities.

4. The comparative advantages of different institutions working in a particular sub-region must be acknowledged by all international actors, including the donors. In the case of the OAS, the political credibility, experience in-country, and trust established with political actors has in many instances facilitated deeper dialogue and better options for a negotiated solution.

5. Once again, I thank you for your interest in the OAS and I look forward to continuing this dialogue on how the UN Peace Building Commission and the OAS can cooperate more closely in the Americas.


--Annex 1--
The OAS and Haiti: Opportunities for improved collaboration between UN/PBC and OAS

10. At present, the Republic of Haiti enjoys a high level of commitment, support and solidarity, not only in establishing and strengthening democracy, the rule of law and security, but also in the area of social and economic development. It is critically important to use this positive momentum to focus on social and economic development.

11. There is relative political stability and a functioning relationship between the legislative bodies and the executive authorities. The Haitian authorities, especially the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation, have developed together a national strategy for growth and poverty reduction. This social and economic development plan, given the current climate of security, presents a unique policy framework for the Haitians.

12. I strongly believe that this framework should be the basis for guiding donor engagement and coordination within the international community to help Haiti achieve minimum conditions for socio-economic progress.

13. Haiti also needs consistent support for law enforcement. OAS is responding to this need by providing a law enforcement professional to the Haitian National Police to help design new policies, training and operational procedures. Through these efforts, the OAS has worked to build peace and complement the fine work of MINUSTAH.

14. There is a need for an on-going commitment to strengthen institutions and build confidence in those institutions -- law enforcement, judiciary, human rights, electoral council, etc. OAS is of the view that a citizenry that has confidence in the ability of its institutions will be more apt to respect the rule of law.

15. We must continue to advance a socio-economic agenda that supports economic development and community stability through employment generating initiatives in Cite Soleil and other depressed areas (e.g. PADF Clean Streets program).

16. We must prioritize peacebuilding efforts on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border.

17. In the past, observation missions have contributed to peace building in Haiti. Electoral observation and assistance has allowed for relatively peaceful elections in the last few years and generated more confidence in electoral processes and outcomes. While still a work in progress, there is need to reform the constitution so that the number of elections can be reduced. Additionally, OAS continues to support the Provisional Electoral Council in its effort to become a permanent, independent institution.

18. Civil Registry and ID card Program: Since the reopening of the Civil Registry in September 2007, over 592,650 adults have registered. Added to all the citizens who did so in 2005, a total of 4.15 million Haitians have registered, resulting in 92% of the adult population having a secure civil identity for the first time in Haiti. This has enabled widely participation in several election processes held, contributing to the reinstitution of democracy.

19. 141 permanent Identification Offices have been opened around the country covering 100% of the population and been equipped with the necessary technological infrastructure to ensure Haiti’s Civil Registry is prepared to continue securing the right to identity of all Haitians in the future.

20. There is now a complete inventory of the historical written registration records at the National Archive, of which 2.5 million have been digitalized and entered in an electronic database. This database will include 100% of the information in the Books and all the data from new registrations.

21. CEP assistance and establishment of a Permanent Electoral Council: Partial senatorial elections are scheduled for April 19, 2009. 12 seats are being contested. Over 100 individuals have registered as candidates representing more than 30 political parties. The current electoral process is on track but presents challenges. In addition to its support for the civil registry modernization and ID card program, the OAS will provide assistance in terms of the completion of the voters list, the printing of this list and the establishment of the tabulation center on Election Day. About 700,000 cards will have been printed and distributed before the senatorial elections in April. The current Board of the CEP has requested support from the OAS in preparation of the Presidential election in 2010.

22. Integral development: The OAS also has a number of other smaller programs all working towards socio-economic development in Haiti. From judicial reform to institutional strengthening in areas of trade, tourism, environmental resource management, port security and public security, the Organization has contributed substantially through technical assistance to human resource capacity-building in Haiti.

23. Haitian Government Priorities: On January 29, 2009, President Preval expressed that the Haitian Government would focus on the issues of elections, the fight against drug trafficking, and constitutional reform to streamline the electoral cycles and improve relations among the branches of power. On the socio-economic front, the following priorities have been set: road infrastructure, energy, education, health, irrigation, aquaculture, and agriculture. Instead of focusing on a broad array of projects, the Haitian government intends to concentrate on a small coherent and achievable program.

24. The Development of Tourism and business outside the capital are choked by the absence of basic infrastructure. Haiti requires a strengthened and organized informal sector, as well as the provision of many more resources to this sector, while continuing to develop the formal economic sector.

25. Public security reform: This implies working with the police to develop a human rights training programme to deal with local level crime. Private sector contributions are lacking in the provinces, but are necessary to develop community policing and other forms of collective security programmes.

26. It is essential that the Government continues to reform and enforce the national police system. While MINUSTAH has assisted in this process, the Haitian Government must find its own system to develop and professionalize the police. Many of the Caribbean nations could contribute toward this goal by establishing a police exchange programme, on an annual basis, in which Haitian police officers are offered incentives to train outside the country in order to acquire new skills and knowledge.

27. Sustainable Political processes: Finally creating inclusive frameworks for democratic governance at all levels, but particularly at the local level. This implies broadening the decision-making process to include all groups, including minority groups like women, the disadvantaged and youth. Public policy must be sensitive to the needs of all the Haitian people.