THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HAVING SEEN the draft standards on cooperative relations between the Organization of American States and the United Nations, its Specialized Agencies, and other national and international organizations; (AG/doc.109 rev. l)

RESOLVES:

To approve the aforementioned standards.

OEA/Ser.P
AG/doc.109 rev. 1
22 April 1971
Original: Spanish

FIRST REGULAR SESSION
April 14, 1971
San José, Costa Rica

DRAFT STANDARDS ON COOPERATIVE RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES AND
THE UNITED NATIONS, ITS SPECIALIZED AGENCIES,
AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

(Approved by Committee I - Juridical and Political Affairs, on April 21, 1971)
CHAPTER I

PURPOSE

Article 1. The purpose of these standards is to regulate the establishment of cooperative relations between the Organization of American States (hereinafter called the Organization) or its organs, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the United Nations or its organs and its specialized agencies, or other national and international organizations foreseen or implied in Articles 52. c and d, 91. d, 95. d, 101. k, 109, and 118.h of the Charter of the Organization, as well as in the statutes of the three Counci1s, through determination of criteria that shall be observed and procedures that shall be followed in order that such relations may be carried out in a coordinated and coherent manner, making it possible for the Organization to provide more useful services to the member states.

CHAPTER II

DEFINITIONS

Article 2. For the purpose of these standards, the entities with which the Organization or its organs may establish cooperative relations are classified in three categories:

1. Intergovernmental and semiofficial organizations. An intergovernmental organization is any organization established by virtue of an agreement between the government of two or more states and composed of them exclusively; a semiofficial organization is any organization whose members include not only states, but also private persons or entities.
2. Governmental agencies. A governmental agency is any agency directly or indirectly dependent on a government.
3. Non governmental organizations. A non governmental organization is any national or international organization made up of natural or juridical persons of a private nature.

CHAPTER III

RELATIONS WITH INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND SEMIOFFICIAL ORGANIZATIONS

Section A. Agreements

Article 3. Cooperative relations with intergovernmental or semiofficial organizations that pursue goals related to those of the Organization may be established through agreements. For the purposes of these standards, such agreements shall be of two types:

1. Agreements that involve the Organization as such, or that concern more than one of its organs, and
2. Agreements concluded by the Inter-American Economic and Social Council, the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture, the Inter-American Juridical Committee, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or the General Secretariat, within their respective spheres of competence.

Article 4. The agreements referred to in this Chapter III shall be prepared in accordance with the following procedure:

1. The General Secretariat shall transmit to the corresponding organ or organs the communications that it receives from intergovernmental or semiofficial agencies, in which they express an interest in establishing cooperative relations;
2. The General Assembly, the Permanent Council, the Inter-American Economic and Social Council, the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture, the Inter-American Juridical Committee, or the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights may entrust the General Secretariat in each case with preparing a study on the advisability of concluding an agreement that is under consideration and, when it deems this advisable, to prepare a preliminary draft agreement, in consultation with the governmental or semiofficial agency concerned;
3. The study, together with the preliminary draft agreement, if any, shall be presented to:

(i) The Permanent Council, when it is a question of an agreement of the type referred to in Article 3.a of these standards, in order that the said Council, if it considers it advisable, may prepare the corresponding draft agreement, with the cooperation of the appropriate organs of the Organization, in order to submit it to the General Assembly for approval;

(ii) the appropriate organ of the Organization, when it is a question of an agreement of the type referred to in Article 3.b of these standards, in order that that organ, if it considers it advisable, may prepare and approve the corresponding draft agreement, and

(d) Once the General Assembly, or the corresponding organ, and the organization concerned have approved the draft agreement, it shall be signed by the Secretary General of the Organization on behalf of and as a representative of the Organization or of the corresponding organ, as the case may be.

Article 5: Without prejudice to any other provisions that the parties may deem advisable in order to facilitate effective cooperation between them, all agreements concluded with intergovernmental and semiofficial organizations shall contain provisions on the following points:

1. Definition of the fields in which the parties have a common interest;
2. Reciprocal consultation on matters of common interest and the exchange of documents, publications, and statistics;
3. The procedure for consultation that shall be followed in the programming process before the directing bodies of each party begin the stage of approval of their respective program-budgets;
4. The right of each party to propose, after such consultations as may be deemed necessary, topics to be included on the agenda of a meeting of the other party;
5. Reciprocal invitation to send observers to participate in the meetings of the various organs of the other party, in accordance with the standards in effect for each body when these meetings are to consider matters of common interest, and
6. Standards for terminating agreements.

Article 6: The Secretary General shall establish the machinery necessary to carry out the following functions in connection with the application of agreements concluded with intergovernmental and semiofficial organizations:

1. To receive all communications that such organizations may address to the Organization and refer them to those organs of the Organization that may have an interest in them, in order to assure coordination of activities;
2. Continually to analyze the activities undertaken or planned by such organizations, in order to keep the corresponding organs of the Organization informed so that they may take them into consideration when formulating their programs;
3. To inform the said organizations as to the activities undertaken or planned by the Organization that may be of interest to them;
4. In agreement with the corresponding organs, to name the observers who should attend meetings of those organizations, and
5. Within the framework of the agreements in force, to make the arrangements that it deems necessary with the secretariats, or their equivalents, of such organizations, in order to ensure smooth operation and optimum results in the programs approved by the General Assembly.

Section B. Relations in the absence of a formal agreement

Article 7: The organs of the Organization, in accordance with their respective regulations and spheres of competence, may cooperate with inter-governmental and semiofficial organizations that pursue goals related to those of the Organization and with which agreements do not exist, and may invite them to participate in their meetings when this is considered advisable.

Article 8: The Secretary General may make arrangements at the Secretariat level with the organizations referred to in the preceding paragraph, for consultations on matters of common interest and for the exchange of documents and information.

CHAPTER IV

RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

Section A. Governmental organizations of the member states

Article 9: Cooperative relations with governmental organizations of the member states shall be maintained through the representatives of the respective governments on the organs of the Organization.

Article 10: However, direct cooperative relations may be established with Governmental organizations in the member states, with the prior consent of the respective governments, expressly manifested through the delegations accredited to the Organization of American States.

Section B. Governmental organizations of nonmember states

Article ll: Relations with governmental organizations of nonmember states shall be established and maintained through the General Secretariat of the Organization.

Article 12: These relations shall be established with the prior consent of the respective governments.

CHAPTER V

RELATIONS WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

Article 13: Cooperative relations with non governmental organizations whose objectives and activities are compatible with the principles and purposes of the Organization and that, under the terms set forth in this chapter, may assist in formulating, carrying out, evaluating, and publicizing the programs of the Organization, shall be of two kinds: general and special.

Section A. General relations

Article 14: General cooperative relations shall be established with those non governmental organizations that are willing to provide advisory services to the organs of the Organization and to disseminate information on its programs.

Article 15: Such relations with non governmental organizations shall be established through the following procedure:

1. At the initiative of any of the organs of the Organization or of the interested non-governmental organization, or of the Secretary General, general cooperative relations may be established, in accordance with Article 118.h of the Charter. The interested non governmental organization shall make known its compliance with the provisions of Article 16 of these standards and indicate the field or fields in which it proposes to cooperate with the corresponding organ of the Organization. With regard to national or regional organizations affiliated with international organizations, these relations shall normally be established with the international organization concerned, thus, attending to the interests of the affiliates of the international organization;
2. To ensure the proper coordination of their handling, all communications from non governmental organizations shall be addressed to the Secretary General, who shall refer them to those organs of the Organization that may have an interest in them, and;
3. In consultation with the corresponding organ of the Organization, the Secretary General may terminate the cooperative relations with any non governmental organization when the action of that organization is not in line with the provisions of Article 16 of these standards, or when the organization has made no effective contribution to the work of the Organization during two consecutive years.

Article 16: The non governmental organizations with which general cooperative relations have been established shall:

1. Answer inquiries from the organs of the Organization and provide advisory services to these organs on matters within their spheres of competence;
2. Disseminate among their members information on the objectives and activities of the Organization, based on that which the Organization provides to them;
3. Send copies of their charters and of any other pertinent documents and publications, to the General Secretariat; and
4. Present to the General Secretariat, before January 31 of each year, a brief report on their collaboration with the Organization during the previous year and on the activities planned in that field for the current year, as well as a current list of their executive officers and, when appropriate, of their affiliated organizations in the member states of the Organization.

Article 17: With regard to the non-governmental organizations concerned, the General Secretariat of the Organization shall:

(a) Send them the documents and publications of the Organization that may be of interest to them;

1. Consider the points of view that they submit in writing on matters of common interest, and;
2. Invite them, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations of the respective organs of the Organization, to send observers to the public meetings of such organs in which matters related to the fie1ds of activity of those organizations are to be considered

Section B. Special relations

Article 18: Special cooperative relations shall be established with those non governmental organizations that are willing to carry out programs on behalf of the Organization, to participate in carrying out joint projects, or to contribute technical, administrative, or financial resources for the programs of the Organization.

Article 19: It shall not be necessary for the non governmental organization with which special cooperative relations, are to be established to have established previously general relations with the Organization or with any of its organs.

Article 20: The Secretary General may establish special cooperative relations with a non governmental organization at the request of that organization or of any of the organs of the Organization, or in accordance with Article 118.h of the Charter.

Article 21: In each case, the nature of the special contribution to be made by the organization in question and the cooperation to be provided by the Organization shall be specified in detail. This cooperation shall be carried out in accordance with the program-budget and the regulations in force. In any case, the organization concerned shall send the General Secretariat the documents referred to in Article 16.e of the standards.

Article 22: Special relations may be terminated by any of the parties.

CHAPTER. V

RELATIONS OF THE INTER-AMERICAN SPECIALIZED ORGANIZATIONS

Article 23: The cooperative relations of the inter-American Specialized Organizations with world organizations of the same character provided for in Article 135 of the Charter shall be coordinated with the activities of the other organs of the Organization, in accordance with the applicable standards prescribed by the General Assembly.

CHAPTER VII

OTHER FUNCTIONS OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT

Article 24: The Secretary General may initiate conversations or negotiations with the organizations referred to in Article 118.h of the Charter that are interested in establishing cooperative relations with the General Secretariat and, on his own, may conclude agreements to that end, provided that in doing so he does not obligate any other organ of the organization without its consent, or the Organization as a whole, and provided that such relations will contribute to the coordination of administrative activities or to avoiding duplication of efforts and expenses.