OAS Ends its 30th General Assembly with Dozen Resolutions

Foreign Ministers from 34 members of the Organization of American States (OAS)concluded their three-day general assembly Tuesday in Canada's southern auto town of Windsor with a dozen resolutions.

The resolution on children and armed conflicts urges member states to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Under the resolution on corruption and corporate social responsibility, the OAS will take specific measures for member states to implement the Inter-American Convention on Corruption. The resolution for the first time puts corporate social responsibility on the OAS agenda.

The resolution on parliamentary network of the Americas notes the decision of legislators to hold a meeting of the "Inter-parliamentary Forum of the Americas" in Canada in 2001.

Other resolutions include those on the OAS mission to Peru, civil society, small arms and light weapons, anti-personnel mines, peace fund, democracy fund, indigenous issues, women's rights, and gender equality.

The annual meeting also decided to hold the next OAS general assembly in Costa Rica in June 2001.

The 30th OAS general assembly opened late Sunday amid a clash between anti-free-trade protesters and police, who have made more than 40 arrests to ensure order during the meeting.



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