GUYANA has completed what is deemed a successful stint as the chair of the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) with a number of key successes. Guyana’s Ambassador to the United States of America (USA) who also chaired the OAS Permanent Council on this country’s behalf, Mr. Bayney Karran said since Guyana assumed the Chair of the OAS Permanent Council in October, it has led the organization’s debate on some critically important issues.
“We had some very important mandates to fulfil, one of the most important was the issue of the  democratic charter, not only  a comprehensive review of the charter and the mechanisms and the processes here at headquarters, but there were a number of countries that decided to have meetings of their own…so at the end of the day, a report had to be produced by the Permanent Council to take to the next General Assembly and that report had to be completed by the end of this month, so we have been able to conclude that report to the satisfaction of all member states that participated,” Ambassador Karran explained.
Another highlight of Ambassador Karran’s tenure as Chair of the Council was a completed social charter – a document that focuses on social development and democracy, integral development and the fight against poverty in the Americas.
Other key achievements include: a review of the Inter-American Human Rights System and visits to the OAS Headquarters in Ethiopia, as part of an OAS High-Level Delegation to exchange experiences on Human Rights and to the third meeting of ministers of public security of the Americas, held in Trinidad and Tobago.
Ambassador Karran said he is thankful for the tremendous support from the OAS Secretary General Mr. José Miguel Insulza, the Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Albert Ramdin, OAS Staff and the member states of the organization.
“I have to also single out the member states, the permanent representative of the member states that make up the council, I could not have wanted closer cooperation and understanding and really a  sense of collegiality with everyone recognizing the deadlines, recognizing the intricacies  of the task before them and  making that extra effort in fulfilling that mandate, in the time we were given  by the General Assembly,” Ambassador Karran posited.
Mr Karran believes that Guyana has grown to be recognized as a key country, one that is leading in a number of ways as he alluded to some of the international bodies and institutions that this Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member country has been asked to lead.
“We were born to integrate and we have been doing quite a bit in terms of the hemispheric integration process; we have chaired the Rio Group on one occasion, had a very successful 20th Summit of the Rio Group some years ago; we just handed over  the chairmanship of UNASUR and we were able to make substantial advances as chair of UNASUR and in that process, as a CARICOM country, we have been bringing CARICOM closer to Latin America which is a dream of the Guyanese people long before we even became an independent country…,” Ambassador Karran asserted.
According to him, this fits in very neatly with Guyana chairing the OAS permanent council and bringing that kind of perspective to the integration process and integration debate within the OAS and the hemisphere.
Guyana will pass chairmanship of the OAS Permanent Council to its sister CARICOM nation, Haiti, and has pledged to work with and support Haiti during this process.
Karran said he was very grateful to represent Guyana as chair and although he wants this country’s term as chair to be remembered where all issues before the council were completed, Guyana’s celebration of the Inter-American year of Culture at OAS headquarters in Washington, with Dave Martins and Band, will certainly be remembered.