JOINT PRESS COMMUNIQUÉ
Nº 2/01 In
a ceremony held today in the Office of Secretary General César Gaviria, Mr.
Richard Wilkinson, Director for the Americas and Permanent Observer of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Organization of
American States, presented the Secretary General, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights ("IACHR"), and the Unit for the
Promotion of Democracy ("UPD") with His Government's generous
contribution of $24,000 to the IACHR and $37,500 to the UPD in support of
the Hemispheric activities of these institutions. Also attending the
function were Alexandra Hall Hall, First Secretary and Alternate Observer,
Permanent Observer Mission of the United Kingdom to the OAS, UPD Executive
Coordinator Elizabeth Spehar, Diego Paz, Senior Specialist of the UPD, IACHR
Chairman Dr. Hélio Bicudo, IACHR Executive Secretary Jorge E. Taiana, IACHR
Assistant Executive Secretary David J. Padilla, IACHR Senior Human Rights
Attorney Relinda Eddie and IACHR Human Rights Attorney Brian Tittemore.
The IACHR is the organ of the OAS whose principal function is to
promote the observance and protection of human rights in the Americas and to
serve as a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters. The
funds granted by the Government of the United Kingdom to the IACHR provided
crucial support for a seminar convened by the IACHR in Grenada on February 1
and 2, 2001, as its contribution to a series of seminars co-sponsored by the
IACHR to promote the inter-American human rights system in the Caribbean
region. The
UPD is the principal body within the General Secretariat of the OAS
responsible for activities in support of democratic consolidation in the
member states. The Government of the United Kingdom's funding for the UPD
will contribute to the undertaking of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission
to Peru, which will be deployed on February 20, 2001 for the observation of
general elections to be held in that country on April 8, 2001. Through
these much welcomed and appreciated contributions, the Government of the
United Kingdom has demonstrated its formidable commitment to strengthening
respect for democracy and human rights in the Americas, and has recognized
the central and interdependent roles played by the UPD and IACHR in pursuing
this objective. |