Joint initiatives to combat poverty and hunger. Welfare and health initiatives. The promotion of international humanitarian law. These are the main items of the cooperation agreement signed the other day in Washington between the Order of Malta and the Organization of American States (OAS).

During the meeting with José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS, Grand Chancellor Jean-Pierre Mazery emphasised that: “The signature of this agreement is the most effective way of demonstrating our willingness to initiate a cooperation with the Organization of American States, in conformity with the Order of Malta’s long tradition. I would like to point out that, in Latin America, the Order supports medical units in Haiti and in Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It has cooperation projects underway in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Peru. The Sovereign Order of Malta currently maintains diplomatic relations with 94 States, 24 of which are on the American continent.”

The Organization of American States is the region’s premier forum for multilateral dialogue and concerted action. It brings together the countries of the American continent to strengthen cooperation and advance common interests. At the core of the OAS mission is the commitment to democracy and to promoting good governance, strengthening human rights, fostering peace and security, expanding trade and addressing the complex problems caused by poverty, drugs and corruption. Through the decisions made by its political bodies and the programmes implemented by its General Secretariat, the OAS promotes greater inter-American cooperation and understanding.

Present at the signature of the agreement was Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin, the President of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Ellsworth John of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ambassador Robert L. Shafer, Permanent Observer of the Order of Malta to the United Nations, as well as representatives of the OAS General Secretariat.