(7 June 2011) Today the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, sent a message to the 41st General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that is being held in El Salvador, and welcomed the adoption of the Declaration of San Salvador, which calls for the formulation of a Hemispheric Plan of Action to tackle crime and insecurity in the region.
The message was delivered by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), who attended the meeting as a representative of the Secretary-General.
Ban Ki-moon recognized that crime and insecurity are increasing threats in the hemisphere and world-wide by stating: "The United Nations remains committed to countering this phenomenon, which undermines human development, prosperity and institutional stability".
On behalf of the UN Secretary-General and ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena thanked the delegations of the Governments of Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for their efforts to facilitate the re-entry of Honduras into OAS.
"ECLAC has been closely following the debate on citizen security and we are convinced that the fight against organized crime begins with the building of a new State architecture that, on the basis of solid and progressive taxation, supports long-term public policies focused on equal entitlement to rights and development, so as to rescue the most vulnerable groups in society from the clutches of crime and tackle this scourge with the rule of law", stated Ms. Bárcena.
She also reiterated the commitment (on the part of the United Nations in general and ECLAC in particular) to cooperating with OAS and the Inter-American System in terms of initiatives arising from the Declaration of San Salvador, as well as with the Summit of the Americas.
Any queries should be addressed to the ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section. E-mail: dpisantiago@cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 210 2040.
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