Civil Society - OAS

As of April 25, 2007, 223 organizations have been accredited within the Organization of American States.

Registry of Civil Society Organizations Within OAS

There are three ways for civil society organizations to participate in the activities of the Organization of American States (OAS).  First, a civil society organization can register to the OAS.  If for any reason a civil society organization would like to participate without registering, they can attend meetings of the General Assembly, the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), and other specific Conferences of the OAS by soliciting to become a Special Guest. The third and last way of participating in OAS activities is through cooperation agreements  with the General Secretariat or other OAS organs.

There are numerous benefits in becoming a registered CSO with the OAS:

• Request and comment on draft General Assembly resolutions
• Receive special identification during General Assembly sessions and other specialized conferences organized in the OAS framework
• Gain access to virtual consultations on issues and initiatives promoted by the OAS
• Help organize and pick the theme of an annual meeting, to be held within the Permanent Council, on a matter of special interest to registered civil society organizations
• Observe public and closed meetings of the Permanent Council, CIDI, and their subsidiary bodies
• Present written documents, not exceeding 2,000 words, on questions that fall within the particular sphere of competence of the organization and have this appear on the agenda of public meetings.  The General Secretariat will then distribute these documents to member states
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As of June 15, 2006, 171 organizations have been accredited within the Organization of American States.  To see the list of registered civil society organizations, please click here.