Proposed Procedure for Drafting the Social Charter of the Americas Ambassador Abigail Castro de Pérez Chair of the CP-CEPCIDI Working Group on the Social Charter of the Americas

Background Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in Quito and Fort Lauderdale Resolutions AG/RES (XXXIV-O/04) and AG/RES (XXXV- O/05) instruct the CP and CEPCIDI to jointly prepare a Draft Social Charter of the Americas and a Plan of Action. Summit of the Americas, Mar del Plata, 2005 The Heads of State and Government offered their encouragement “to the OAS in drafting the Social Charter of the Americas and its Plan of Action.” General Assembly resolution, Santo Domingo The Working Group is instructed to “develop a methodology enabling it to expedite its consideration of the Draft Social Charter of the Americas and its Plan of Action” so as to “conclude the negotiation of those documents.” The Assembly also expresses “the sincere political will of all of our countries to conclude and adopt the Social Charter of the Americas and its Plan of Action before the end of 2007.”

Status of Negotiations to Date Reference and negotiation documents prepared by the Secretariat at the Group’s request –“Background and Proposals for Drafting the Social Charter of the Americas” - GTC/CASA/doc.9/05GTC/CASA/doc.9/05 –“Working Document for Discussions of the Working Group” (GTC/CASA/doc.20/05 corer. 1) which groups together proposals presented by:GTC/CASA/doc.20/05 corer. 1 Venezuela, co-sponsored by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Ecuador; document GTC/CASA/doc.3/05 rev. 2GTC/CASA/doc.3/05 rev. 2 Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama, document GTC/CASA/doc.4/05 rev. 1GTC/CASA/doc.4/05 rev. 1 United States, document GTC/CASA/doc.10/05GTC/CASA/doc.10/05 Canada, document GTC/CASA/doc.11/05GTC/CASA/doc.11/05 Chile, document GTC/CASA/doc.12/05GTC/CASA/doc.12/05 Bolivia, document GTC/CASA/doc.14/05GTC/CASA/doc.14/05 Peru, document GTC/CASA/doc.15/05GTC/CASA/doc.15/05 CARICOM, document GTC/CASA/doc.17/05GTC/CASA/doc.17/05 –Draft Preamble, document GTC/CASA/doc.23/06GTC/CASA/doc.23/06 –Proposed Outlines for the Operative Section of the Social Charter of the Americas, documents GTC/CASA/doc.26/06 and GTC/CASA/doc.27/06 GTC/CASA/doc.26/06GTC/CASA/doc.27/06 –Status of Negotiation of the Preambular Paragraphs of the Social Charter of the Americas, GTC/CASA/doc.34/06 corer. 1 GTC/CASA/doc.34/06 corer. 1 Other relevant materials for this Group -Legal Aspects of the Interdependence between Democracy and Economic and Social Development [CJI/RES.106 (LXVIII-O/06)]CJI/RES.106 (LXVIII-O/06)

Status of Negotiations to Date Draft Preamble –16 meetings of deliberations and negotiations –A total of 26 paragraphs –6 paragraphs have been given preliminary approval –Initial reading concluded in April 2006 –Paragraphs with observations, pending: Argentina: paragraphs 13 and 22 Brazil: paragraphs 11, 20, and 21 Barbados: paragraph 5 Canada: paragraph 6 Chile: paragraph 6 Costa Rica: paragraphs 6 and 29 Dominican Republic: paragraphs 7, 21, and 26 El Salvador: paragraph 14 Ecuador: paragraphs 11 and 21 Guatemala: paragraphs 11, 19, and 21 Guyana: paragraph 21 Honduras: paragraph 6 Mexico: paragraphs 5 and 10 Panama: paragraphs 7 and 21 Peru: paragraph 21 Saint Kitts and Nevis: paragraph 11 Trinidad and Tobago: paragraphs 5 and 6 United States: paragraphs 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, and 22 Uruguay: paragraphs 9, 10, and 13 Venezuela: paragraphs 2, 13, and 24

Proposed Work Plan 1.Set negotiation of the preamble aside for the moment –The preamble to this Charter should be reexamined once the content of the operative section has been determined. –In response to the General Assembly resolution adopted in Santo Domingo, it is necessary to proceed with discussion of the operative section. –In any case, texts by delegations that agreed to draft alternative proposals for inclusion in the draft preamble will be accepted. 2. Begin negotiation of the operative section -Jointly determine the working procedure to be used, taking as a basis the “Working Document for Discussions of the Working Group” (GTC/CASA/doc.20/05 corer. 1)

Proposed Work Plan 3.Define the type of Social Charter we want -Before starting negotiations on the text, we should take some time to define what type of Social Charter we want. -This dialogue will cast light on the way we will be able to approach the operative section of the Charter. 4.Hold meetings with experts and organizations –Resume work with presentations by experts on their perspectives and their views on past experiences, to help us visualize the type of Charter we want. -Invite international organizations to briefing sessions where they will contribute to the content of the operative section, once the general direction of the Charter has been determined.

Proposed Work Plan 5. Establish mechanisms for fulfillment of the Social Charter –Hold meetings to discuss Charter follow-up mechanisms and the role to be assigned, inter alia, to the OAS. 6.Define the role of the OAS -The OAS has been mandated to play an active part in drafting this Charter. -Therefore, the part it will play in the Charter’s implementation and follow-up needs to be discussed. 7.Define the Plan of Action - Concurrently, we need to start envisioning the type of Plan of Action that will accompany the Charter.

Secretariat support required To start work and ensure effective compliance with this procedure, the Secretariat is asked to: –Place the present situation in context, on the basis of document GTC/CASA/doc.34/06 corer. 1 –Redistribute the document “Background and Proposals for Drafting the Social Charter of the Americas” –Research follow-up mechanisms for this type of instrument –Assess the real possibility of drafting a proposed operative section with which to launch negotiations –Identify specialized organizations that could serve as technical reference points for specific areas or topics To this end, the Secretariat must be provided with the necessary resources to continue providing effective services to this Working Group.

Tentative Work Calendar TENTATIVE DATE TYPE OF MEETINGACTIVITY September 22Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Presentation of the proposed procedure for resuming work on the Social Charter Ambassador Abigail Castro de Pérez, Chair of the Joint CP-CEPCIDI Working Group  Other business September 25 to October 6 Plenary meeting of the Working Group (date to be determined) Informal meetings of country groups / Outcomes sent in writing to the Chair and the Secretariat  Presentation by experts of examples in the inter-American system, the international system, and other regions that are relevant for drafting the Social Charter of the Americas Briefing session, tentatively scheduled for September 28 Proposed speakers: - Victor Ambramovich, member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - Juan Chozas, Counselor on Labor and Social Affairs at the Embassy of Spain  Presentation of proposed texts, for inclusion in the draft preamble that were entrusted by the outgoing Chair of the Working Group to countries or groups of countries Week of October 9Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Presentation of the draft preamble incorporating the new texts submitted by the missions.  Discussion of the type of Social Charter envisaged Week of October 16Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Continued deliberation on the type of Social Charter envisaged  Request to the Secretariat to present a draft operative section Week of October 23Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Discussion of monitoring and follow-up mechanisms for the Social Charter

Tentative Work Calendar TENTATIVE DATE TYPE OF MEETINGACTIVITY Week of October 30 Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Presentation by experts on topics of relevance to the drafting of the Social Charter of the Americas Briefing session Proposed speakers: -Jean-Paul Hubert, member of the Inter-American Juridical Committee -Carlos Jarque, Secretary of the Inter-American Development Bank Week of November 6 Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Discussion of the Organization’s role in the fulfillment of the Social Charter Week of November 13 Meeting of chairs and vice chairs of the Working Group  Evaluation and discussion of the status of deliberations  Other business Week of November 27 Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Secretariat presentation on the operative section  Presentations by appropriate bodies of the inter-American system and international bodies on topics covered in the operative section of the Draft Social Charter Briefing session Week of December 11 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Meeting of chairs and vice chairs of the Working Group  Beginning of negotiation of the operative section  Evaluation and discussion of the status of deliberations  Other business

Tentative Work Calendar TENTATIVE DATE TYPE OF MEETINGACTIVITY Week of January 15, 2007 Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Resumption of the Group’s work  Progress report on the drafting of the Social Charter  Continued negotiation of the operative section Week of January 29Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Continuation of the negotiations on the operative section Week of February 12 Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Continued negotiation of the operative section Week of February 19 Meeting of Chair and Vice Chairs of the Working Group  Evaluation and discussion of the status of deliberations  Other business Week of February 26 Plenary meeting of the Working Group  Progress report on the drafting of the Social Charter of the Americas  Conclusion of the work of the Chair pro tempore  Election of new officers of the Working Group  Other business