general secretariat - Department of Conferences and Meetings ...

OEA/Ser.G
CP/INF.5067/
04 corr. 1
17 November
2004
Original:
Spanish/English















NOTE FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL TRANSMITTING
EXECUTIVE ORDER 04-01 corr. 1
"REORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT"



October 13, 2004




Excellency:

I have the honor to address Your Excellency, in your capacity as
Chair of the Permanent Council, to submit to you and to the member states a
corrected version of Executive Order 04-01, which was issued on September
15, 2004.

Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest
consideration.



Miguel Angel Rodríguez E.
Secretary General






His Excellency
Ambassador Aristides Royo
Permanent Representative of Panama
to the Organization of American States
and Chair of the Permanent Council
Washington, D.C.


GENERAL SECRETARIAT

EXECUTIVE ORDER 04-01 corr. 1


SUBJECT: REORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT


THE SECRETARY GENERAL,

Pursuant to his authority under Articles 109 and 113 of the Charter
of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Articles 4, 8, 12, and 14
of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General
Secretariat of the Organization of American States ("General Standards"),


CONSIDERING:

That by resolution AG/RES. 2017 (XXXIV-O/04) and Section A.1.a of
part IV of resolution AG/RES. 2059 (XXXIV-O/04), the OAS General Assembly
instructed the Secretary General "to organize the structure of the General
Secretariat and pursuant to that mandate, to present a Restructuring Plan
to the Permanent Council by January 31, 2005";

That in carrying out that instruction the Secretary General has
considered, in light of the General Secretariat's current financial
situation and requirements: the recommendations of the Management Study
of the Operations of the General Secretariat presented to the Permanent
Council by Deloitte & Touche in the first semester of 2004 ("Management
Study"); the observations of the Permanent Council's Committee on
Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP) and of the Inspector General on
the Management Study; the observations of the member states received at the
June 2004 special meeting of the Permanent Council convoked under
resolution AG/RES. 2017 (XXXIV-O/04); the reorganization exercise of 2001;
and prior reorganization efforts;

That the Regular Fund resources projected for 2005 and the foreseeable
future are insufficient to support the General Secretariat as it is
presently organized, and that the likelihood of improving member state
support for the quota increases necessary to sustain the financial and
operational viability of the General Secretariat is remote without an
effective and immediate reorganization of its structure; and

That failure to complete a major reorganization of the General
Secretariat well before the beginning of 2005 will place in jeopardy the
job security of the staff and the ability of the General Secretariat to
execute priority programs during that year and beyond, thereby frustrating
the expectations of the member states and the staff,

RESOLVES:

1. To reduce by the amount of $12,000 the annual salary of the
Secretary General approved in the program-budget of the Organization under
Article 40.e of the General Standards.
2. To deactivate and suspend the current structure of the General
Secretariat imposed under the Executive Orders in force prior to the date
of this Executive Order and to replace it with the structure set out in
Annexes A - I attached hereto ("the New Structure"), in accordance with the
following specifications:

a. The New Structure shall include, in addition to the
Offices of the Secretary General and the Assistant
Secretary General, the following seven departments:

(i) Department of Human Rights;
(ii) Department of Democratic and Political Affairs;
(iii) Department of Integral Development (a/k/a the
Secretariat for Integral Development and the
Executive Secretariat for Integral Development);
(iv) Department of Multidimensional Security;
(v) Department of Communications and External Relations;
(vi) Department of Legal Affairs and Services; and
(vii) Department for Administration and Finance.

(See organizational chart attached.)

b. The hierarchy of the dependencies of the General
Secretariat under the New Structure shall be, in descending
order of authority: the Secretary General, the Assistant
Secretary General, the seven departments, the offices, the
divisions, the sections, and the units.

c. The officer in charge of each department shall be a
Department Director at the D-1 level; the officer in charge
of each office shall be an Office Director at the P-5
level; the officer in charge of each division shall be a
Division Chief at the P-4 level; the officer in charge of
each section and unit shall be a Section or Unit Chief,
respectively, at the P-4 level or below (except for certain
Units of the General Secretariat Away from Headquarters
where the maximum level may be as high as P-5, commensurate
with the scope of responsibilities and duties executed in
the particular duty station).

d. All Department Director, Office Director, and Division
Chief/Advisor positions shall be trust appointments, unless
otherwise decided by the Secretary General.

e. Department Directors shall be fully responsible and
accountable to the Secretary General for the execution of
the funds entrusted to them under the program-budget and
the specific funds in accordance with the General
Standards, other rules and regulations of the General
Secretariat, and the purposes for which those funds are
appropriated or otherwise provided.

3. To instruct the Director of the Department for Administration
and Finance to present to the Permanent Council for consideration by
November 1, 2004, a revised 2005 program-budget based on the New Structure.
4. To recognize that the New Structure may be modified before
December 31, 2004, to take into account comments and observations received
by the Permanent Council, pursuant to resolution AG/RES. 2059 (XXXIV-O/04),
in which case an amended version of this Executive Order shall issue.

5. To assign, by way of a Directive issued on this same date, to
the Departments created under the New Structure, authority for the
administration and control of the remaining balances in the accounts of the
2004 program-budget, together with the authority to manage the
corresponding personnel.

6. To request the General Assembly, by way of its 2006 program-
budget resolution or such other means as it deems appropriate, to eliminate
the Secretariat for Legal Affairs and the Secretariat for Management, which
have been deactivated and suspended by this Executive Order.

7. To clarify in all Executive Orders and other administrative
issuances involving performance contracts, procurement contracts, and in
the Budgetary and Financial Rules, that:

a. The Department of Human Resources and/or Department of
Human Resource Services is now the Office of Human Resource
Services;


b. The Secretariat for Management is now the Department for
Administration and Finance;


c. The Secretariat for Legal Affairs and the Department of
Legal Services are now the Department of Legal Affairs and
Services;


d. The Department of Program-Budget and the Department of
Financial Services are now the Office of Budgetary and
Financial Services;


e. The Department of Procurement Management Services is now
the Office of Procurement and Facilities Management
Services;


f. The functions previously performed by the Department of
Technology and Facility Services are now performed by the
Office of Procurement and Facilities Management Services
and the Office of Information Technology Services;


g. The Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings is now the
Office of Conferences and Meetings;


h. The Office of Public Information and the Office of
External Affairs are now the Department of Communications
and External Relations; and


i. The Offices of the General Secretariat in the Member
States are now the Units of the General Secretariat Away
from Headquarters.

8. To supersede all executive orders and other issu