Welcome Message from Ambassador Adam Blackwell

Hello, I am Ambassador Adam Blackwell, Secretary for External Relations for the Organization of American States (the OAS). It is with great pleasure that I am inviting you to participate in a new venture the OAS is undertaking in collaboration with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (or CIGI), Governance Village, and the Canadian International Council (or CIC). Together we have created the "Inter-American Forum on Governance" a four part e-Conference series that will take place over 8 weeks in the fall of 2009 discussing important political issues of relevance to Canadians and the hemisphere.

An e-Conference is a virtual event in which participants come together online to discuss and debate key issues surrounding a specific topic. The Inter-American Forum on Governance e-Conference series will be hosted on-line through Governance Village. It will be completely web-based allowing you to participate from the comfort of your home, office or blackberry.

Let me first begin by speaking a little about each organization and then about the e-Conference series itself and how you can get involved and participate in the dialogue.

The Organization of American States (OAS), founded in 1948, brings together the nations of the Western hemisphere to promote democracy, strengthen human rights, foster peace and security, and address the shared complex problems caused by poverty, terrorism, drugs and corruption. Institutional strengthening, political mediation, humanitarian assistance and inter-American policy setting are all important aspects of the diverse work undertaken at the OAS. Most notably, the OAS is the region's principal multilateral forum for political dialogue and collective action.

CIGI is an independent, nonpartisan think tank that addresses international governance challenges. Led by a group of experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate, builds capacity, and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI's interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world.

Governance Village is an online knowledge network jointly funded by CIGI and the Canadian International Development Agency. A central, easily accessible, web-based location that is rich in content and supported by a comprehensive set of tools, GV encourages knowledge sharing and collaboration on issues related to governance and international development. The network is open to government agencies, non-governmental organizations, scholars, civil society and the private sector.

The Canadian International Council (CIC) is a non-partisan, nationwide council established to strengthen Canada's role in international affairs. With local branches nationwide, the CIC seeks to advance research, discussion and debate on international issues by supporting a Canadian foreign policy network that crosses academic disciplines, policy areas and economic sectors.

As you can see, each organization is geared towards promoting dialogue which is exactly what we hope to accomplish with this e-Conference series. The objective of this project is to engage university students, academics, interested groups and individuals in civil society, and policy makers from Canada and around the hemisphere in four thematic online discussions, held every two weeks from the end of September until mid-November.

The four thematic discussions are:

1. Strengthening and Sustaining Democratic Institutions from September 29 - October 1 will evaluate the development of democratic practices and culture across the hemisphere by considering recent political events and how to extend the reach of democracy to marginalized groups.
2. Multidimensional Security: Haiti and a common strategy for the future taking place October 13 - October 15 will analyze the importance of institution building in Haiti in an effort to find stability.
3. Integral Development: Energy and the Environment from October 27 - October 29. This discussion will assess how our energy use patterns effect our shared environment, what role individual citizens play in this process and a look towards the future of energy consumption in the hemisphere and how it is changing our modern world.
4. Fighting for Rights in the Americas taking place from November 10 - November 12 will consider the evolution of the human rights agenda across the hemisphere by looking at new avenues of rights discourse and where this discussion is leading us.

Each e-Conference series will take place over three days opening at 8am and closing at 9pm daily. A discussion board will be set-up each day to address a specific issue within the theme of the e-Conference session. Experts from Canada and the hemisphere will act as panelists, presenting arguments on topics related to the overall theme. A wide range of conference materials will be provided and along with panelist materials will be posted on the discussion board in advance of the session. At 8am on the first day, registered participants will be invited to join in for discussion and questions.

Participation is free and simple. Just go to the website to read the background content and discussion. To engage in the discussion and post your opinions and thoughts all you need to do is follow the simple registration process found on the website. Once you have registered, you are welcome to participate in one or more of the four thematic discussions.

Please visit the site regularly to find up to date conference materials and agendas, plus a list of confirmed panelists.

We encourage you to register for the e-Conference and take advantage of this unique opportunity to participate. Your comments and questions will serve to generate discussion, assess strategies, promote consensus-building and enrich the dialogue on salient issues on the inter-American agenda and for the Canadian public.

See you soon!

 

Website http://www.governancevillage.org/interamericanforum
Speaker Name Various
Location Name Web-based
Contact Name Dwight Storring
Contact Phone +1 (519) 885-2444 Ext. 288
Contact Email dstorring@cigionline.org