OEA - AG - Resolución AG08470E06

GENERAL ASSEMBLY Fifty-first regular session OEA/Ser.P November 10 to 12, 2021 AG/CG/doc.7 (LI-O/21) Guatemala City, Guatemala 23 November 2021

Virtual Original: Spanish

REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE

(Presented at the fourth plenary session held on November 12, 2021)REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE (Presented at the fourth plenary session held on November 12, 2021) As Rapporteur of the General Committee, it is an honor for me to present to the distinguished ministers and heads of delegation at this fifty-first regular session of the General Assembly of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) the report on the activities conducted by the General Committee, pursuant to Article 25 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly.

I. INTRODUCTION Installation of the Committee, election of the Chair, and presentation of recommendations The plenary of the fifty-first regular session of the General Assembly, at its first meeting held on November 11, 2021, installed the General Committee, and elected by acclamation its Chair, Ambassador Josué Fiallo Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, whose candidacy was proposed by the delegation of Panama and supported by the delegation of Mexico.

On that occasion, the President of the General Assembly reminded delegations that the deadline for submitting new draft resolutions or declarations was 9:00 a.m. that same day and called on the General Committee to submit a report on its work at the fourth plenary session on November 12, 2021, before 3:00 p.m., and in all cases, to take the necessary measures to ensure that the discussion were recorded and kept, in case it was necessary to rely to them. Assignment of topics

The Plenary assigned the General Committee a total of five drafts for consideration, as listed in the Committee’s order of business, document AG/CG/OD-1 (LI-O21) of November 11, 2021. Of that number, four were presented within the deadline for submission of new drafts: two draft declarations and two draft resolutions. The fifth was the draft resolution “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,” which was referred by Permanent Council after agreement upon it remained elusive within the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs. At the beginning of the meeting, the delegation of Nicaragua moved that the draft resolution on Nicaragua be removed from the agenda; however, the motion failed to garner support. Several delegations also expressed their intention to submit footnotes stating their objection to the participation of the delegation of Venezuela in the General Committee and requested that their respective statements be included in the minutes (delegations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mexico, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago). In that context, the General Committee was tasked with following up on the following five drafts, as listed in the Committee’s order of business for its first meeting, document AG/CG/OD-1 (LI-O21): • Draft declaration “The Situation in Haiti” (AG/doc.5746/21). • Draft resolution “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights” (AG/doc.5728/21).2 Section iii, “Rights of children and adolescents,” pending preambular paragraph 4 and operative paragraph 4. Section xi, “Protection of asylum seekers and refugees in the Americas,” pending operative paragraph 5 Section xii, “Strengthening of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) for the promotion of gender equity and equality and the rights of women,” pending ad referendum on operative paragraph 2 • Draft resolution “Developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on the Hemisphere” (AG/doc.5745/21). • Proposed amendment (AG/doc.5750/21). • Draft declaration “Renewed Commitment to Sustainable Development in the Americas

on operative paragraph 2 • Draft resolution “Developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on the Hemisphere” (AG/doc.5745/21). • Proposed amendment (AG/doc.5750/21). • Draft declaration “Renewed Commitment to Sustainable Development in the Americas Post Covid-19” (AG/doc.5747/21). • Draft resolution “The Situation in Nicaragua” (AG/doc.5749/21).

II. PROCEEDINGS Order of business At the first meeting of the General Committee, held on November 11, 2021, the Chair, Ambassador Josué Fiallo, Permanent Representative of Dominican Republic to the OAS, thanked the member states for supporting his election. Immediately thereafter, the Committee adopted the draft order of business

(document AG/CG/OD-1 (LI-O21)), containing the above-mentioned draft resolutions. Election of the Vice Chair and Rapporteur Pursuant to Article 24 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, the General Committee proceeded to elect the Vice Chair and Rapporteur. Ambassador María del Carmen Roquebert, Permanent Representative of Panama to the OAS, whose candidacy was proposed by the delegation of Argentina and supported by the delegation of Canada, was elected Vice Chair by acclamation. For its part, the delegation of Uruguay proposed me as rapporteur of the General Committee. My candidacy was seconded by the delegation of Peru and I was elected by acclamation. Working procedure Considering the limited time available to consider the documents assigned to the General Committee and in order to move forward as efficiently as possible, the Chair presents the following proposed methodology:3 • The intention was to concentrate only on the pending paragraphs in draft resolution “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.” • To expedite the negotiations, the Chair would not read the texts of the paragraphs, inasmuch as they had already been published and were available to delegations. The Chair would only indicate the topic, the page number, and the number of the paragraph under consideration. • The Chair also kindly requested that delegations refrain from giving speeches and restrict themselves, to the extent possible, to putting forward concrete proposals that can be

would only indicate the topic, the page number, and the number of the paragraph under consideration. • The Chair also kindly requested that delegations refrain from giving speeches and restrict themselves, to the extent possible, to putting forward concrete proposals that can be incorporated into the texts to be negotiated. • In this regard, the Chair proposed that general statements setting out positions that States wish to make public be delivered to the Secretariat for distribution as informative documents. The presentation of such positions could be announced in the meeting. • Likewise, the Chair requested that support for paragraphs be expressed tacitly, i.e., if there were no comments, it would be understood that delegations supported the paragraph. The intention was that requests to speak be made by those delegations that wished to put forward concrete proposals for paragraphs on which they were unable to join the consensus. • If discussions on any paragraph became protracted, the Chair would propose that delegations meet in informal consultations to reach consensus. • In the interests of handling proposals through a single channel, the Chair suggested that delegations upload to the Kudo chatroom any new proposals that they might wish to present during the discussion of the draft resolutions. This would facilitate the translation, distribution and consideration of those proposals. • If, in addition to the chatroom, delegations wished to send proposals by e-mail, they were asked to send them to the Secretariat at the following addresses: inavarro@oas.org and jgsalazar@oas.org. • At the end of the time allotted for the work of the General Committee, the draft resolutions would be submitted to the Plenary for consideration and adoption. • Finally, the need was emphasized to start meetings on time. The Chair would begin and conclude General Committee meetings according to the established timetable. Meetings The General Committee held three meetings to consider the matters that were assigned to it in the order of business. The first and second meetings were held on Thursday, November 11, 2021, and lasted until 7:20 p.m. The third meeting was held on Friday, November 12, 2021, and ended at 3:15 p.m.

order of business. The first and second meetings were held on Thursday, November 11, 2021, and lasted until 7:20 p.m. The third meeting was held on Friday, November 12, 2021, and ended at 3:15 p.m. The following summary outlines how the General Committee dealt with the drafts that were entrusted to it.4

1. Draft declaration “The Situation in Haiti” (document AG/doc.5746/21) This draft declaration, presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November11 by the delegation of Haiti based on a request from the delegation of Costa Rica, was considered at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee.

In the General Committee, the delegation of Haiti read the original draft and expressed thanks for the support received thus far. The declaration expresses concern at the “the worsening political, economic, social, security and humanitarian crisis” in the country and alludes to the grave impact that could have on the stability of the region. The Government also commits to ensuring the well-being of the Haitian people and urges the OAS to resolve the humanitarian crisis. It calls on the international community to support efforts to “to restore security, combat impunity, and defend human rights in Haiti.” Several delegations expressed their support for Haiti’s declaration and joined as co-sponsors: Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Chile, Dominican Republic (although it would have preferred a more detailed text describing the serious crisis in Haiti), Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Canada and the United States. The United States delegation also expressed its support and presented an amendment to the third preambular paragraph referring to representative democracy based on a provision of the OAS Charter relating to the “indispensable condition” for stability, instead of the expression “essential.” The draft declaration was agreed upon at its first reading at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee, with a view to its consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly.

2. Draft resolution “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights” (document AG/doc.5728/21) The Committee considered this draft resolution at its first and second virtual meetings. The draft

Committee, with a view to its consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly.

2. Draft resolution “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights” (document AG/doc.5728/21) The Committee considered this draft resolution at its first and second virtual meetings. The draft resolution, submitted by the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs, was referred to the General Committee by the Permanent Council because it contained sections and paragraphs that were ad referendum, under consultation, and pending. Accordingly, the relevant parts were analyzed in turn.

In Section iii, entitled “Rights of children and adolescents,” the debate on the approach to the adoption of subsequent measures involving a possible inter-American instrument was resolved by means of a proposal from the delegation of Ecuador requesting a “regional analysis geared towards further action”; thus, the relevant part of the operative section on further action was resolved by means of a mandate calling for “a hemispheric study on prevention, eradication, and punishment of abuse and all forms of violence against children and adolescents.” In addition, the consideration of a possible inter-American instrument in this area should be based on national evaluation by States within existing resources. In Section xi, entitled “Protection of asylum seekers and refugees in the Americas,” the proposal of the delegation of Haiti on treatment with dignity was included, as was a modification regarding the persons to whom this paragraph would be addressed, in accordance with a request from Guatemala, which proposed that it be addressed toward “refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and stateless persons.” It should be noted that a proposal originally put forward by the Colombian delegation to include in the opening part of5 operative paragraph 5 the language “to reiterate the importance that member states” was rejected, and the phrase “reiterate to states the need to...” was used instead. In Section xii, entitled “Strengthening of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) for the promotion of gender equity and equality and the rights of women,” the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago lifted its ad referendum on operative paragraph 2, which refers to “universal access to sexual and reproductive health care,” and stated that it would submit a footnote in that regard. The delegation of Saint Lucia announced its intention to include a footnote alluding to the entire

lifted its ad referendum on operative paragraph 2, which refers to “universal access to sexual and reproductive health care,” and stated that it would submit a footnote in that regard. The delegation of Saint Lucia announced its intention to include a footnote alluding to the entire text of the draft resolution. The draft resolution was agreed upon at the second virtual meeting of the General Committee with a view to its consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly.

3. Draft resolution “Developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on the Hemisphere” (document AG/doc.5745/21; and proposed amendment, document AG/doc.5750/21) This draft resolution, jointly presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November 11, by the delegations of Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica, with the co-sponsorship of the delegations of Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, the United States, and Uruguay, was considered at the first, second, and third virtual meetings of the General Committee. The delegations of Mexico and Honduras asked to be included as co-sponsors.

The delegation of Peru explained the reasons behind the draft resolution, which seeks to provide the Organization with a mandate that will allow countries to best prepare themselves to confront the pandemic and to work as best as possible on coordination mechanisms. The proposing delegation also thanked the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda, acting on behalf of the delegations of Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, for the amendments presented to the initial draft. The text calls for solidarity among States in the face of “the unprecedented effects of the COVID19 pandemic on human beings, society and the economy,” and promotes various actions such as

coordination of technical and cooperation efforts on the exchange of relevant information, cooperation to facilitate the study and research of epidemic diseases, political coordination to build resilient health systems and the promote solidarity in the “ development and acquisition of safe, accessible and effective vaccines and other health technologies.” In its statement, the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda explained that the amendment did not seek to radically modify the original text. The proposed amendment contained new preambular paragraphs that emphasized the vulnerabilities of the Caribbean States and the unequal distribution of vaccines that had forced those countries to seek charitable donations, while the operative part requested concessionary financing for developing countries to “mitigate economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” The original proposal and the respective amendments were subjected to a detailed analysis in which each paragraph was reviewed and constructive contributions incorporated from various delegations interested in agreeing on an inclusive and comprehensive resolution in order to coordinate acceptable language on the subject.6 The elements agreed upon in the preamble included modifications of the references to Caribbean States based on already agreed language that referred to “small-island developing states and low-lying coastal countries.” The reference to the “essential” nature of medicines and health services was also omitted. Preambular paragraph 8 of the proposed amendment, which referred to the statement of the Secretary General of the United Nations, was deleted as it was already included in other preambular paragraphs; paragraphs 9 and 10 of the original version were also deleted. In paragraph 11, it was recognized that there was an urgent need to create production facilities in developing countries that have an impact on the production of quality, effective, and affordable vaccines. Regarding the exchange of relevant scientific and technical knowledge, it was proposed that that should be on a mutually agreed basis. The importance of financing and technical assistance mechanisms for all member states was reaffirmed, while the reference to the most vulnerable nations was retained. In the operative part, a call was made to strengthen public investment in health, as well as to take

measures for the development of resilient health systems that would allow progress toward universal health care access and coverage, in line with a new proposal from the United States delegation. The resolution endorsed the public-good nature of widespread immunization against COVID-19 and urged States to take steps to facilitate the equitable distribution of vaccines in the Hemisphere. It was also agreed to call on international financial institutions to provide concessionary financing particularly to small states, based on their vulnerability, to mitigate economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The delegation of the United States announced that it would submit a footnote to operative paragraph 8. The draft resolution was approved at the second virtual meeting of the General Committee for consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly.

4. Draft declaration “Renewed Commitment to Sustainable Development in the Americas Post COVID-19” (document AG/doc.5747/21) This draft declaration, which was presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November 11, by the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago with the co-sponsorship of the delegations of Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was considered at the second and third virtual meetings of the General Committee. The delegation of Brazil asked to be added as a co-sponsor.

The delegation of Trinidad and Tobago expressed appreciation for the comments received and said that it had consulted with the delegations that had submitted amendments to its original proposal, in particular the delegations of Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, and the United States. The draft declaration aimed to urge member states to renew the goals and targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by encouraging the adoption of a “comprehensive and multidisciplinary” approach involving both States and the Organization. The draft declaration was reviewed in its entirety. The agreements reached include the proposal of the Costa Rican delegation of adding in the third

preambular paragraph an additional text that included the harmful effects of COVID-19 on women and on systemic racism. It was also decided to refer to all types of violence, including, in particular, domestic violence, following the recommendation of the Jamaican delegation, which also advocated maintaining a7 reference to racism without limitations. At the request of the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago, “poverty and hunger” was added to the list of elements that States should continue to address, in addition to the structural causes of racism, discrimination, intolerance and inequality. The Brazilian delegation proposed a new provision on financing, capacity building and voluntary technology transfer. In addition, at the request of the delegation of Brazil, language from the Beijing declaration was inserted in the new proposal of the delegation of Canada in the fourth preambular paragraph. In the substantive part, it was decided to use the term “declares” as chapeau, as a result of which the verb tenses in all the declarative paragraphs were revised. In this context, the first paragraph stated the need to adopt a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach. Paragraph 2, following a suggestion from the delegation of Colombia, declared the commitment of the States to continue to promote national and regional measures to counter the effects of climate change, avoiding the mention of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The mention of “related accords, corruption, discrimination, hunger and food and nutritional insecurity, forced migration, poverty, and violence” was retained. Finally, a reference to biodiversity was included, further to a suggestion made by the delegations of Costa Rica and Colombia. In the third declaratory paragraph proposed by the Canadian delegation on the protection of women’s human rights, a group of countries introduced a reference to the Beijing Declaration without limiting such protection to national laws. Finally, a reference was included to the role of the OAS in improving national capacity for sustainable development, based on the Organization’s four pillars. The delegation of Colombia communicated its intention to incorporate a footnote to the second preambular paragraph. The following delegations asked to be included as co-sponsors of the draft declaration: Saint Lucia, Chile, Suriname, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Belize, Bahamas, Saint Vincent and the

The delegation of Colombia communicated its intention to incorporate a footnote to the second preambular paragraph. The following delegations asked to be included as co-sponsors of the draft declaration: Saint Lucia, Chile, Suriname, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Belize, Bahamas, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United States, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Grenada, Mexico, Panama, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The draft declaration was approved at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee for consideration by the Plenary of the General Assembly.

5. Draft resolution “The Situation in Nicaragua” (document AG/doc.5749/21) This draft resolution, presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November 11, by the delegation of Canada with the co-sponsorship of the delegations of Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, United States and Uruguay, was considered at the second virtual meeting of the General Committee.

The Canadian delegation explained the fundamental elements of the proposal instructing the Permanent Council to undertake an immediate collective assessment in accordance with the OAS Charter and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, taking into consideration the lack of transparency of the elections held on November 7, 2021, in addition to the unsuccessful diplomatic initiatives aimed at protecting human rights that had been attempted since June 2018. The Canadian delegation explained that this reflects the different efforts of States and the Organization since 2018 to draw the attention of the Nicaraguan Government to the need to respect democratic norms. The proposing delegation noted that the draft resolution had been worked on with all delegations and that no comments or amendments had been received since its presentation. It also confirmed that the text has no open or pending paragraphs. In that8 context, it requested that it be referred to the Plenary, if there is no opposition or interest from other delegations to present their positions on the matter. The delegation of Chile expressed its backing for the delegation of Canada in relation to the document, noting that it had elicited broad agreement and supporting its referral to the plenary. The Chair, noting that there was no opposition, requested that the draft resolution be forwarded to

delegations to present their positions on the matter. The delegation of Chile expressed its backing for the delegation of Canada in relation to the document, noting that it had elicited broad agreement and supporting its referral to the plenary. The Chair, noting that there was no opposition, requested that the draft resolution be forwarded to the plenary. The draft resolution was agreed upon at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee with a view to its consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly. The debate having concluded, the meeting moved on to other business and the delegation of Barbados requested a space to present alternative proposals to the draft declaration, following instructions it had received from its capital; it added that if this was not possible, it would announce its proposal at the plenary. The Chair explained that the order of business had been modified at the beginning of the meeting, as a result of which the item had already been discussed and its consideration completed. The Chair further explained that the decision to refer the draft to the plenary of the General Assembly had been taken with the requisite quorum, without opposition, and that all delegations had been afforded the opportunity to express their opinions. In that context, he asked the delegation of Barbados to submit its proposals to the General Assembly.

III. CONCLUSION Under the leadership of its Chair, Ambassador Josué Fiallo, and its Vice Chair, Ambassador María del Carmen Roquebert, the General Committee agreed on the following two draft declarations and three draft resolutions out of a total of five drafts submitted to it and recommended their adoption by the plenary of the General Assembly.

Draft declarations agreed upon • “The Situation in Haiti” • “Renewed Commitment to Sustainable Development in the Americas Post COVID-19” Draft resolutions agreed upon • “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights” • “Developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on the Hemisphere” • “The Situation in Nicaragua” Draft declarations agreed upon • Draft declaration “The Situation in Haiti”: presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November 12, by the delegation of Haiti based on a request from the delegation of Costa Rica, this draft was considered at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee.

Draft declarations agreed upon • Draft declaration “The Situation in Haiti”: presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November 12, by the delegation of Haiti based on a request from the delegation of Costa Rica, this draft was considered at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee. The delegation of Haiti read the original draft, which underwent an amendment throughout the text following a proposal from the delegation of the United States to use language from the OAS Charter in the reference to representative democracy as an “indispensable condition” for stability in the third preambular paragraph.9 The declaration expresses concern at the “the worsening political, economic, social, security and humanitarian crisis” in that country and alludes to the grave impact that could have on the stability of the region. The Government is also committed to ensuring the welfare of the Haitian people and urged the OAS to resolve the humanitarian crisis. Several delegations expressed their support for Haiti’s declaration and joined as co-sponsors: Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Chile, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Canada and the United States. The draft declaration was agreed upon at its first reading at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee, with a view to its consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly. • Draft declaration “Renewed Commitment to Sustainable Development in the Americas Post COVID-19”: presented to the plenary of the General Assembly on Thursday, November 11, by the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago with the co-sponsorship of the delegations of Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, this draft was considered at the second and third virtual meetings of the General Committee. The delegation of Brazil asked to be added as a co-sponsor. The delegations of Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, Canada, and the United States submitted comments on the original text. The draft declaration urges member states to renew the goals and targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The draft declaration was reviewed in its entirety. Having decided that the legal nature of the

States submitted comments on the original text. The draft declaration urges member states to renew the goals and targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The draft declaration was reviewed in its entirety. Having decided that the legal nature of the instrument would be a declaration, rather than a resolution, the General Committee revised the verb tenses in all the declaratory paragraphs. The draft encourages the adoption of a “comprehensive and multidisciplinary” approach involving both States and the Organization, in addition to declaring the commitment of States to continue promoting national and regional measures to counter the effects of climate change. Particular attention is given to the protection of women’s human rights and to strengthening the role of the OAS in enhancing national capabilities. The delegation of Colombia communicated its intention to incorporate a footnote to the second preambular paragraph. The draft declaration was agreed upon at the third virtual meeting of the General Committee, with a view to its consideration by the plenary of the General Assembly. Draft resolutions agreed upon • Draft resolutio