Editorial.

• Author: Insulza, Jose Miguel
• Position: Conference news - Editorial

The topic that will be addressed by the Organization of American States during the 41st Regular Session of its General Assembly is, without a doubt, one of utmost importance and urgency. The Government of El Salvador has proposed that this meeting be focused on confronting and finding solutions to the problem of citizen security in the region. This is a phenomenon that the GAS began to address in 2003 when representatives of the hemisphere's governments gathered in Mexico City and signed the Declaration on Security in the Americas.

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Since then, the GAS has consistently expressed its concern about this pressing issue and has been making decisions on the matter. In 2005, the General Secretariat for Multidimensional Security was created and tasked with the specific mission of helping the region's states to strengthen their institutional capacities for responding to security problems. In 2008, we held the First Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas. A second meeting was held in 2009, and the third is being planned for November of this year. We have also defined a Hemispheric Plan of Action against Transnational Organized Crime. In related matters, in 2010, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission redefined its strategy for confronting the problem of drug consumption and trafficking, placing special emphasis on the areas of prevention and rehabilitation. The General Secretariat of the GAS is also very concerned with advancing the work of the Technical Secretariat of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and other Related Materials and with administering the Program for Comprehensive Action against Anti-personnel Mines.

This is not a small amount of work to undertake, yet it is still clearly insufficient. Efforts must be redoubled to face this immense challenge. Our commitment is to develop the capacities of our states in an ongoing dialogue with civil society to...