DOC/w/14/rev.4
IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING CHART – UNITED STATES
1. Making Democracy Work Better
Electoral Processes and Procedures
Mandate: Share best practices and technologies with respect to increasing citizen participation in electoral processes, including voter education, the modernization and simplification of voter registration and the voting and counting process, while taking into account the need to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process and promoting the full participation and integration of all persons eligible to exercise the right to vote, without discrimination;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs // U.S. Agency for International Development: USAID has provided assistance to electoral commissions in Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Honduras, and Mexico, including training for election monitors, strengthening of electoral councils, civic/voter education, and electoral dispute resolution.
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Continue to enhance electoral mechanisms, using information and communications technologies where possible, to effectively guarantee the impartiality, promptness and independent action of agencies, tribunals or other bodies responsible for the conduct, supervision and verification of elections at national and sub-national levels, and strengthen and facilitate, with the support of the Organization of American States (OAS) and other regional and international organizations, hemispheric cooperation and exchange of legislative and technological experiences in these areas, and the deployment of election observers when so requested;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Convene under the auspices of the OAS, and with the collaboration of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), meetings of experts to examine in more depth issues such as: political party registration, access of political parties to funding and to the media, campaign financing, oversight and dissemination of election results and relations of political parties with other sectors of society;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs // Department of State:
The Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) Political Parties Meeting:
On December 13-14 a conference was held in Miami with approximately 60 participants, including President elect Maduro of Honduras and former Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez. The conference addressed political parties’ relationships with government, media, and civil society. The U.S. National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute contributed in-kind resources and participants. The U.S. advanced funds to support the conference. The IDB played an advisory role and will fund a report on the conference.
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/ Timeline: December 2001, future conference dates TBD.Transparency and good governance
Mandate: Promote cooperation among national agencies in the Hemisphere charged with the development and maintenance of procedures and practices for the preparation, presentation, auditing and oversight of public accounts, with technical assistance where appropriate from multilateral organizations and multilateral development banks (MDBs), and support exchanges of information on oversight activities related to the collection, allocation and expenditure of public funds;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Encourage cooperation and exchange of experiences and best parliamentary practices between national legislators of the Hemisphere, while respecting the separation and balance of powers, through bilateral, subregional and hemispheric vehicles such as the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA);
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Work jointly to facilitate cooperation among national institutions with the responsibility to guarantee the protection, promotion and respect of human rights, and access to and freedom of information, with the aim of developing best practices to improve the administration of information held by governments on individuals and facilitating citizen access to that information;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Create and implement programs with the technical and financial support, where appropriate, of multilateral organizations and MDBs, to facilitate public participation and transparency, using information and communications technologies where applicable, in decision-making processes and in the delivery of government services, and to publish information within time-limits established by national legislation at all levels of government;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs // Department of State:
American Fellows Program:
In Quebec City, President Bush announced the establishment of the American Fellows Program to improve the delivery of government services through the exchange of experts. In total, 11 Fellows from different countries of the hemisphere should arrive in the United States for fiscal year 2002. The Department of State plans to select 20 more Fellows for FY03, although this figure is dependent on funding. The program will also select Fellows from the U.S. to serve abroad.
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/ Timeline:Media and Communications
Mandate: Ensure the media is free from arbitrary interventions by the state, and specifically, work to remove legal or regulatory impediments to media access by registered political parties including by facilitating, where possible, equitable access during election campaigns to television and radio;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Encourage cooperation among public and private broadcasters, including cable operators, and independent broadcast regulatory bodies and governmental organizations, in order to facilitate the exchange of best industry practices and technologies at the hemispheric level, to guarantee free, open and independent media;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Encourage media self-regulation efforts, including norms of ethical conduct, to address the concerns of civil society with regard to, inter alia, reducing the dissemination of extreme violence and negative stereotypes of women and ethnic, social and other groups, contributing in this way to the promotion of changes in attitudes and cultural patterns through the projection of pluralistic, balanced and non-discriminatory images;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Fight Against Corruption
Mandate: Consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, in accordance with their respective legal frameworks, and promote effective implementation of the Convention by means of, inter alia, the Inter-American Program for Cooperation in the Fight Against Corruption and associated technical cooperation programs and activities, including those of relevant multilateral organizations and MDBs, in the area of good governance and in the fight against corruption, as well as programs which each country designs and implements in accordance with national laws, by its own appropriate bodies that may require assistance;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Support the establishment as soon as possible, taking into consideration the recommendation of the OAS, of a follow-up mechanism for the implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption by States Parties to this instrument;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs // Department of State and
Department of Justice:
Anti-Corruption:
The U.S. participated actively in the January 2002 Committee of Experts meeting concerning the Follow Up Mechanism. The U.S. has contributed $50,000 to conduct the first meeting of the Committee of Experts.
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/ Timeline: U.S. Government continues to support the efforts in 2002 to implement the follow-up mechanism.Mandate: Support strengthening the Inter-American Network of Institutions and Experts in the Fight Against Corruption in the context of the OAS, as well as initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperation among ethics officials and members of civil society;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Strengthen, in cooperation with multilateral organizations and MDBs, where appropriate, the participation of civil society in the fight against corruption, by means of initiatives that promote the organization, training and linkage of citizens groups in the context of concrete projects which promote transparency and accountability in governance;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs // U.S. Agency for International Development Anti-Corruption:
The USAID-funded RESPONDANET, the most visited anti-corruption website on the internet, has expanded its role to serve as a depository and clearinghouse for accountability and anti-corruption information and best practice in the hemisphere. Its audience includes local governments, professional associations and NGOs.
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Continue to promote policies, processes and mechanisms that protect the public interest, the use of disclosure of assets mechanisms for public officials in order to avoid possible conflicts of interest and incompatibilities, as well as other measures that increase transparency;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Empowering local governments
Mandate: Promote mechanisms to facilitate citizen participation in politics, especially in local or municipal government;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Promote the development, autonomy and institutional strengthening of local government in order to promote favorable conditions for the sustainable economic and social development of their communities;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Strengthen the institutional capacity of local governments to allow full and equal citizen participation in public policies without any discrimination, facilitate access to those services fundamental to improving citizens’ quality of life, and strengthen decentralization and the integral development of these services in part through commensurate and timely funding and initiatives that permit local governments to generate and administer their own resources;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Promote sharing of information, best practices and administrative expertise among local government personnel, associations of local governments, community associations and the public, in part by facilitating access to information and communications technologies by municipalities and by encouraging cooperation and coordination among national, subregional and regional organizations of mayors and local government;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:Mandate: Stimulate international cooperation in training directors and managers of local government; Support convening a meeting in Bolivia of ministers or authorities at the highest level responsible for policies on decentralization, local government and citizen participation in municipal government, and consider closely the recommendations of the Sixth Inter-American Conference of Mayors and other relevant processes;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs // Department of State, Inter-American Foundation and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID):
Decentralization Conference:
The U.S. Government participated in the Decentralization Conference in La Paz, Bolivia, July 31. The conference agreed to the formation of a High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization and support for training, seminars, research and publications on the subject within the OAS. The Network will promote virtual networks and disseminate information and host biannually a ministerial on decentralization.
Through grassroots development programs implemented by the Inter-American Foundation and USAID, the U.S. consistently supports sustainable development through municipalities.
Building Democracy from the Grassroot:
The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) and OAS (UPD) sponsored a conference on July 16 to discuss the critical role of decentralization policies and citizen participation at the municipal level in safeguarding democracy. USAID has supported the creation of internet sites in South and Central America (www.iula.net and www.femica.org respectively) to improve communications among national associations of municipalities and to disseminate information and best practices.
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/ Timeline: Conferences completed in July 2001, continuing work on funding municipal programs occurs throughout 2002.Mandate: Support the OAS Program of Cooperation and Decentralization in Local Government, including, with the support of the IDB, the development of programs and the effective inclusion of citizens in decision-making processes;
Actions – Hemispheric Level / Actions – Regional Level / Actions – National Level / Funding / Obstacles and/or Best Practices and/or Special Needs /Timeline: /
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/ Timeline:2. Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Implementation of International Obligations and Respect for International Standards
Mandate: Consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, all universal and hemispheric human rights instruments, take concrete measures at the national level to promote and strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons, including women, children, the elderly, indigenous peoples, migrants, returning citizens, persons with disabilities, and those belonging to other vulnerable or discriminated groups, and note that the use of the term “peoples” in this document cannot be construed as having any implications as to the rights that attach to the term under international law and that the rights associated with the term “indigenous peoples” have a context-specific meaning that is appropriately determined in the multilateral negotiations of the texts of declarations that specifically deal with such rights;