Third Summit Of The Americas Essay, Research Paper

The Third Summit of the Americas

The Summit of the Americas, 2001, was held in Quebec, Canada. In spring 2001, (April 20-22, 2001), the 34 democratically elected heads of government from North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean gathered in Quebec City for the Summit of the Americas, 2001 — the third Summit of the Americas. The Summit will mark the culmination of a period in which Canada has strongly reaffirmed its identity as a nation of the Americas and as a busy crossroad for our hemispheric friends and neighbors. In the past two years, Canada has hosted a number of major Hemisphere events, including chairing negotiations on the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), playing host to the Pan American Games in the summer of 1999, welcoming the meeting of the Spouses of the Heads of State and Government of the Americas in September 1999.

At the 2001 Summit, leaders addressed common hemispheric challenges, including economic integration, improved access to education, poetry, alleviation, enhanced respect for human rights and democratic development. Quebec, Canada was chosen to host the Summit of the Americas at the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. Canada’s brand at the Summit was conductivity. Canada emphasized the role that information and communication technologies could play in helping to achieve their goals.

Canada participated actively in all areas of discussion at the Summit of the Americas in Santiago. Among the issues addressed was how to combat the illicit drug trade in the hemisphere. Leaders endorsed the creation of a Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM), which was developed by an Intergovernmental Working Group, chaired by Canada. It is a mechanism to review multilaterally countries progress in the fight against drugs. As part of the MEM initiative, country reports for all OAS member states will be presented to Leaders at the Summit of the Americas, 2001 in Quebec City. Also at the Summit, Prime Minister Chretien proposed the establishment of a Foreign Ministers Drug Dialogue that would examine the issue of illicit drugs from a human security perspective. This initiative led to a dialogue on drugs at the 29th OAS General Assembly in Guatemala City in June, 1999, which provoked a wide ranging discussion of the human security aspects of the drug problem. Canada is analyzing the results of the Drug Dialogue initiative in an effort to develop specific projects that address human security related aspects of the hemispheric drug problem.

The Summit of the Americas, 2001 is a work in progress. Since its beginning in 1994, Canada has been active in putting Summit proposals into action at home and in the hemisphere, and in monitoring implementation of Summit mandates through the SIRG. These functions are critical to ensuring that the Summits are successful in advancing the issues and Plans of Action endorsed by the leaders of the Americas. In the coming year, Canada, now Chair of the SIRG, will work with its partners throughout the Americas to prepare the agenda for the 2001 Canadian-hosted Summit. The SIRG is chaired by the government representatives of the host country for the upcoming Summit. The countries that are involved in this are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

I think that you should hold a Summit because there are many problems that are worldwide.