WASHINGTON, D.C., October 8, 2022 – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Public Service the Hon. Fred Mitchell headed the Bahamian delegation that participated in the 52nd regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Lima, Peru, October 5 – 7.
Included I the delegation were His Excellency Chet Neymour, Bahamas Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OAS; Mikhail Bullard, Minister Counsellor and Alternate Representative in the Permanent Mission; Mashanna Russell, Foreign Service Officer; Rolanda Davis, Foreign Service Officer; and Chris Curry, Aide to the Minister.
The General Assembly is the annual meet of the supreme organ of the Organization of American States and comprises the delegations of all of its 34-member states. The mechanisms, policies, actions, and mandates of the Organization are determined by the General Assembly.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mitchell delivered remarks during a dialogue with Permanent Observers to the OAS and to the Plenary of the General Assembly, reiterating that the development and security work of the OAS were of strategic importance to The Bahamas and that The Bahamas supports enhanced multilateral efforts to improve the situation in Haiti. He also underscored the challenges to financial inclusion for small states like The Bahamas which are being exacerbated by the unfair practices of global regulatory regimes in the financial services space.
The Bahamas was able to negotiate inclusion of enhanced mandates around strengthened administrative and budgetary oversight, scaling up climate action support from the OAS and the creation of a language training and certification programme at the OAS into the outcome documents of the Assembly.
Matters such as the situations in Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela and the fiscal health of the OAS were central aspects of the Assembly’s deliberations.
In the margins of the General Assembly, The Bahamas also had meetings with the CARICOM Caucus, the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and the delegations of Canada, Peru and Slovenia.
