Multidimensional Security in the Americas: the OAS Secretariat for Multidimensional Security implements programs to combat and eliminate terrorism and develops policies that strengthen and protect citizen security in the Americas.

• Author: Chisman, Anna
• Position: Organization of American States

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This issue of Américas features some of the important work carried out by the OAS Secretariat for Multidimensional Security (SMS) including its efforts to fight drug trafficking, rehabilitate drug users, combat firearms trafficking, and remove land mines, as well as its broader efforts to tackle citizen security as a regional issue. These are just a few glimpses into a wide array of activities that take place under the umbrella of the SMS.

OAS member states have made substantial progress over the years on improving the political and economic conditions in their countries, but crime and violence have increasingly threatened these advances. The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security was created in 2005 in recognition of the urgent need to address security in a more comprehensive fashion. It incorporates previously existing programs and is endowed with a broader mission to coordinate member state responses to both national security threats and threats to the security of individual citizens.

The SMS incorporates three major bodies: the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), which was established more than 25 years ago; the Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) established in 1999, and the Department of Public Security (DPS) which was created in 2006.

CICAD was established to assist the collective efforts of member states to reduce the production, trafficking, and abuse of drugs in the Americas. It facilitates the exchange of information between national governments on money laundering and weapons trafficking; creates and supports educational programs; and produces materials for use in both rural and city schools. CICAD has created a Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) that gauges the progress of anti-drug activities in the OAS member states. It also works in the areas of demand reduction, supply reduction, alternative development, institutional development, educational development and research, and initiatives to combat money laundering. The inter-American Observatory on Drugs is also part of CICAD.

The Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) was created to promote national, regional, and International cooperation to prevent, combat, and eliminate terrorism in the Americas. Its eight capacity building programs are organized in five areas: border controls, critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism legislative assistance and combating terrorist financing, crisis management exercises, and promotion of international cooperation and partnerships.

The mission of the Department of Public Security (DPS) is to promote and strengthen comprehensive, long-term public security policies that fully respect human rights. The Department develops activities to combat organized crime, firearms trafficking, criminal gangs, and human trafficking. It also promotes activities to improve penitentiary systems, humanitarian demining, police training, legislative assistance, and information systems on crime mad violence. DPS also acts as Executive Secretariat of the Meetings of Ministers of Public Security (MISPA) of the hemisphere. MISPA is an important space for cooperation in the fight against crime and violence in each of the OAS member countries.

The systematic collection of information is an important part of the work of all of the dependencies of the SMS. Just this year, the OAS created an Inter-American Observatory of Public Security to be the primary source of information on trends in crime, violence, and judicial systems in the Americas. The Observatory collects information from member states and works to make the information public and comparable. It disseminates reports and data on subjects such as violence against women, human rights conditions, cyber-crime, and a wide range of other topics in order to assist in the creation of better public security policies.

When OAS member states gather in El Salvador for the next General Assembly meeting in June 2011, they will tackle these and other security challenges and consider the adoption of a Declaration and Plan of Action to strengthen and mobilize the capacities of American states to take a firm strand against crime and violence by working in close collaboration with civil society. The adoption of this Plan will strengthen and amplify the mandates of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security.

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CICAD: A Success Story

by Anna Chisman

W hen the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) was founded in November 1986, very few countries had national drug commissions or national drug strategies. Almost no-one had specialized training or interest in addictions, and there was no scientific understanding of the nature of drug dependence. Only a handful of member states had legislation on drug control, despite having signed and ratified the UN drug conventions. Money laundering techniques used by the drug cartels were barely understood. As head of CICAD's drug demand reduction program (1987-2010), I had no counterpart in most member states.

By contrast, today, almost every member state has a national drug commission and a national drug strategy. Neuroscience has given us a much clearer understanding of drug dependence as a disease of the brain. Many thousands of police and customs...