Several Agreements Reached At Summit Of The Americas

PANAMA CITY, Panama, CMC – After nearly four months of intense work and several bilateral consultations, 90 percent of the mandates put forward at the Summit of the Americas have been reached.

President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez, told delegates at the conclusion of the summit here on Saturday, 42 out of 48 mandates were agreed on, while the others were left to be considered by a small number of countries.

“There was, however, complete agreement in recognizing that the right to education without discrimination and equitable access to a quality education are essential to the effort to achieve integral development, eradicating poverty and inequality,” said Varela in the Summit Declaration.

“We have therefore proposed increasing the coverage of our education systems and strengthening higher technical education, together with creating programs and new employment opportunities, in collaboration with the private sector, for the at-risk youth of our hemisphere,” he added.

In higher education, Varela said leaders proposed closer ties between universities and the public sector, “so that our places of learning can provide the scientific, technical, and social analyses, inspections, feasibility studies, and proposals for the public infrastructure projects that communities need.”

In addition, he said attendees applauded the proposal made at this Summit for the creation of an Inter-American Education System to improve the quality of education in the hemisphere.

Similarly, he said leaders supported efforts to ensure universal access to health as a basic human right.

With energy being a “central pillar of sustainable development,” Varela said agreement was made on actions that will guarantee access to energy from a range of sources that are environmentally friendly, economically-affordable, and reliable.

In that context, and underscoring shared concern regarding climate change, Summit leaders agreed on mandates for the protection, conservation, restoration and correct stewardship of the environment.

Recognizing the relationship that exists between migration and development, and the contribution that migrants make to their countries of origin, transit, and destination, agreement was made on actions to bolster cooperation among states and to protect the human rights of migrants.

During the discussion of the document proposed by Panama, leaders spoke about concerns regarding terrorism, organized crime, and other threats to citizens’ security, and about the need to combine efforts to combat them, by strengthening cooperation among countries and adopting measures to prevent crime and violence.

In recognizing that democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic development of regional peoples, Varela said leaders agreed on a series of mandates to strengthen the rule of law, the separation of powers and the independence of branches of government, and respect for human rights.

He said they agreed on actions to promote and guarantee citizen participation in the formulation and implementation of public policies, together with citizen empowerment free of all discrimination on grounds of gender or race.

“Panama believes that the vast number of mandates on which agreement was reached can and must be overseen by the institutions of the inter-American system and other international agencies,” the Panamian leader said.

He said his administration will be conveying the mandates agreed on to the directors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and other multilateral financial institutions, “so funding and technical assistance can be provided.”