Jamaica assumes chair of OAS Permanent Council

WASHINGTON, CMC – Jamaica's Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Audrey Marks, has assumed the chair of the OAS Permanent Council until September 30 this year.

“I look forward to a very productive chairmanship that will result in tangible and fruitful outcomes for the benefit of our hemisphere,” Marks said during the handing-over ceremony on Monday at the OAS headquarters in Washington.

She said the OAS General Assembly in June “reminded us of the inextricable links between human rights, democracy, and sustainable development.”

Marks said that many countries in the region, especially in the Caribbean, continue to face challenges such as “food and energy insecurity, non-communicable diseases, challenges to democratic governance and development agenda, which are constantly undermined by crime and violence.”

She said therefore that multilateral mechanisms, such as the OAS Permanent Council, “have an even greater role to play, as it allows the further deepening of our engagement, in our efforts to collectively address these challenges plaguing our region.”

Honduras' Permanent Representative, Carlos Quesada, will serve as vice chair of the council during the July-September period.

Jamaica took the chair of the council from Uruguay, whose Permanent Representative, Washington Abdala, held it from March to June.

The OAS said the Chair of the Permanent Council rotates every three months among member states of the hemispheric body, in alphabetical order, while the vice chair rotates every three months but in reverse alphabetical order.

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