2004 Press Releases

Invitation to Press Roundtable. Monday, May 10 2004

May 7, 2004

“The United States and the Summit of the Americas: An Update on U.S. Actions to Implement the Hemisphere's Agenda” will be the topic of a discussion with Ambassador John F. Maisto, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, on Monday, May 10, 2004, at 12:00pm at the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy, at 7-9 Marli Street. All media are invited to attend, but an RSVP is required. Please call 622-5979 to RSVP.

Ambassador Maisto has been the U.S. Coordinator for the Summit of the Americas on since July 18, 2003. A full bio and photo will be provided upon request.

The Summit of the Americas is a unique mechanism for the heads of state and heads of governments to discuss solutions to common political, economic, and social problems in a multilateral and comprehensive way.

The Quebec City Summit focused on strengthening democracy, creating prosperity, and realizing human potential. Leaders at the Quebec City Summit mandated creation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and emphasized the need to address areas like health, education and equitable growth that directly improve people’s quality of life.

Since 2001, the United States has committed hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of hours of labor to make this common vision a reality. U.S. National Coordinator for the Summit of the Americas Ambassador John F. Maisto oversees U.S. efforts to implement this hemispheric agenda. The following are highlights of actions related to each of the eighteen initiatives stemming from the Quebec Summit.

The United States is one of 29 countries in the hemisphere that has ratified the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the first internationally binding agreement to focus specifically on corruption. The Convention has already proved valuable in facilitating the extradition from the United States to Peru of two fugitives charged in a corruption scandal, and a Follow-Up Mechanism mandated by leaders at Quebec is monitoring implementation of the Convention to ensure that countries take full advantage of the Convention to fight corruption.

As a follow-up to the 2001 Summit, the OAS Permanent Council held a first special session in November 2002 to promote women's participation in the political process. The session attracted political and civil society figures from throughout the hemisphere, with the goal of highlighting gender equality as an important goal for democracies.

The United States funds numerous exchange and international visitor programs to help women in the hemisphere further their contributions to their own countries.

Programs include leadership training, advocacy, networking and campaigning skills, and workshops on violence awareness and HIV/AIDS issues. The U.S. Government and the non-profit Public Forum Institute sponsored the Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Summit in March 2002, where President Bush announced key policy initiatives for small business. Various regional forums were organized around the United States in connection with the Summit.

For additional information on Summit Activities to date we recommend viewing the following internet sites:

http://www.summit-americas.org
http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/soa