DG Nº /04

RULES OF PROCEDURE

NINETEENTH PAN AMERICAN CHILD CONGRESS, TO BE HELD IN MEXICO CITY (MEXICO) FROM OCTOBER 27 TO 29, 2004

I. NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE CONGRESS

Article 1. The Nineteenth Pan American Child Congress is an inter-American specialized conference, in accordance with Articles 122 and 123 of the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) and resolution AG/RES. 1961 (XXXIII-O/03) of the OAS General Assembly.

As an inter-American specialized organization, the Inter-American Children’s Institute shall propose to the Permanent Council, by agreement with the host country, dates for holding the Congress, so that Council may approve them and the OAS General Secretariat may transmit the convocation notice to the governments of OAS member states.

Article 2. The Congress is meeting to consider the following central topic: The Family, as the Basis for the Integral Development of Children and Adolescents.

II. PARTICIPANTS

Delegations

Article 3. The governments of the OAS member states may accredit delegations to the Congress. Delegations may be made up of a principal representative, alternate representatives, advisers, and such other members as the governments may deem necessary. The accreditation shall be done by written communication to the OAS Secretary General.

Secretary General

Article 4. The OAS Secretary General, or the representative he appoints, shall participate in the Congress, with voice but without vote, in accordance with Article 115 of the Charter.

Other organs and entities of the Organization

Article 5. Representatives of OAS organs or entities whose spheres of competence are related to the agenda of the Congress shall have the right to speak but not to vote.

Precedence

Article 6. The order of precedence of the delegations shall be alphabetical, according to the name of the country, unless the delegations find it necessary to establish an alternative mechanism.

Permanent observers

Article 7. Representatives of permanent observer countries to the OAS who have been duly accredited may attend the Pan American Child Congress, with the right to speak but not to vote.

Other observers

Article 8. The following may accredit observers to the Pan American Child Congress:

a) Inter-American specialized organizations and intergovernmental regional agencies of the Americas;

b) The United Nations and its specialized agencies;

c) International or national organizations that maintain cooperative relations with the Inter-American Children’s Institute, or others, should the Permanent Council so decide;

d) Governments of states that are not members of the OAS when these governments have expressed an interest in doing so and when authorized by the Permanent Council;

e) National and international civil society organizations whose activities are related to the subject of the Congress.

The OAS General Secretariat (“General Secretariat”) shall extend invitations to the international institutions mentioned in this article and in Articles 5 and 7.

Special guests

Article 9. Persons of recognized competence in the topics to be considered by the Congress may attend as special guests. The invitations shall be issued by the Inter-American Children’s Institute.

Opportunity for observers and special guests to speak

Article 10. Permanent observers, other observers, and special guests may speak in the plenary sessions of the Congress and in the meetings of its working groups, when invited to do so by the president or moderator, as the case may be.

III. PRESIDENT

Article 11. The Government of the host country shall appoint a provisional president of the Pan American Child Congress, who shall coordinate the work until the delegations have elected the president (pursuant to Article 19).

Article 12. The president of the Congress shall be elected by the vote of a majority of the delegations.

Article 13. The president shall:

a) Preside over the sessions of the Congress and place matters under discussion in accordance with the order of business;

b) Recognize delegates in the order in which they request the floor;

c) Decide on points of order that may arise in the deliberations of the Congress, without prejudice to the rights of the delegations as established in Article 28 of these Rules of Procedure;

d) Put the points under discussion to a vote and announce the results;

e) Transmit the order of business of each plenary session to the delegates as far in advance of the session as possible;

f) Convene the heads of delegation whenever the business of the Congress so requires;

g) Take such steps as he or she considers appropriate to advance the work of the Congress and enforce the Rules of Procedure.

Article 14. The heads of delegation shall be vice presidents of the Congress and shall take the place of the president in the event of his or her absence, in the order of precedence established under Article 6.

IV. SECRETARIAT

Article 15. The OAS General Secretariat and the IIN shall provide technical and secretariat services to the Congress, in cooperation with the Government of the host country, in accordance with the agreement signed by that Government and the General Secretariat. These services shall be supervised by the officer appointed for this purpose by the OAS Secretary General.

Secretary General of the Conference

Article 16. The Director General of the Inter-American Children’s Institute shall serve as Secretary General of the Congress.

Article 17. The Secretary General of the Congress shall have the following duties, among others:

a) To collaborate with the president in all arrangements for the proceedings of the plenary sessions;

b) To adopt appropriate administrative measures;

c) To record votes at plenary sessions.

V. SESSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE

Article 18. The Congress shall hold a preliminary session, coinciding with the 79^th meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN, an inaugural session, plenary sessions, and a closing session.

Article 19. Before the inaugural session, the heads of delegation shall hold a preliminary session, coinciding with the 79^th meeting of the IIN Directing Council, which shall have the following order of business:

a) Agreement on the election of the president;

b) Report on the Agenda;

c) Report on the Rules of Procedure;

d) Agreement on the working groups and the subjects assigned to them;

e) Agreement on the Committee on Credentials and the Style Committee;

f) Agreement on the deadline for presentation by delegations of draft resolutions or any other drafts or proposals they may wish to present;

g) Member state representatives shall report to the plenary Directing Council on best practices in their countries regarding the six themes of the Congress; these reports shall be prepared according to guidelines the IIN shall provide in advance to the representatives;

h) Other business.

Article 20. The agreements reached at the preliminary session shall be formally adopted at the first plenary session.

Article 21. The plenary sessions of the Congress and the meetings of the working groups shall be public.

The meetings of the Steering Committee, the Committee on Credentials, and the Style Committee shall be closed.

VI. DISCUSSIONS AND PROCEDURES

Article 22. The official languages of the plenary sessions of the Congress shall be English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Article 23. A simple majority (half plus one) of the member state delegations attending the Congress shall constitute a quorum in the plenary sessions. In the working groups, a simple majority of the delegations making up the body in question shall constitute a quorum.

Article 24. Proposals shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat and may not be discussed until the session following their distribution to the delegations. However, by a majority vote of the delegations of the states represented at the Congress, the Congress may authorize discussion at its plenary sessions of a proposal that has not been distributed on time. In each case, a working group shall be formed to study the proposal, unless it concerns matters that should be discussed only at plenary sessions.

Article 25. At any time during the consideration of a proposal, a motion may be made to amend it.

A motion shall be considered to be an amendment to a proposal only when it adds to or eliminates something from that proposal or changes part of it. A motion that would totally replace the original proposal or that is not directly related to it shall not be considered to be an amendment.

Article 26. A proposal or an amendment may be withdrawn by its proponent before it has been put to a vote. Any delegation may resubmit a proposal or amendment that has been withdrawn.

Article 27. For reconsideration of a decision taken at a plenary session of the Congress, a motion to reconsider must be approved by a majority vote of the delegations of the attending states. For reconsideration of decisions taken in working groups, a motion to reconsider shall require approval by a majority of the delegations making up the body in question.

Article 28. During the discussion of a topic, any delegation may raise a point of order, which shall be decided upon immediately by the president. Any delegation may appeal this decision, in which case the appeal shall be put to a vote.

While raising a point of order, a delegation shall not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion.

Article 29. The president or any delegation may propose the suspension of discussion. Only two delegations may speak in favor of, and two against, the suspension, which shall then be put to a vote immediately and approved or rejected by a simple majority of the delegations of the participating states.

Article 30. The president or any delegation, when considering that a topic has been discussed sufficiently, may propose that discussion be closed. This motion may be opposed by two delegations, after which it shall be declared approved if it receives a majority vote of the delegations present at the session or meeting.

Article 31. During any discussion, the president or any representative may propose that the session or meeting be suspended or adjourned. Such a motion shall be put to a vote immediately and without discussion, and shall be approved or rejected by a simple majority of the delegations of the participating states.

Article 32. The following motions shall have precedence, in the order set forth below, over all other proposals or motions:

a) Suspension of the session or meeting;

b) Adjournment of the session or meeting;

c) Suspension of discussion on the topic under consideration;

d) Close of discussion on the topic under consideration.

Article 33. The provisions of this chapter pertaining to discussions and procedure shall govern the plenary sessions and the meetings of the working groups.

VII. VOTING

Article 34. Each delegation shall have the right to one vote; in the case of a tie, the president of the Congress shall have the deciding vote.

Article 35. At plenary sessions, decisions shall be taken by the vote of a simple majority of the states attending the Congress.

Article 36. In the Committee on Credentials, the Style Committee, and the working groups, decisions shall be taken by a majority of the delegations present.

Article 37. Votes shall be taken by a show of hands; however, any representative may request a roll-call vote, which shall begin in the order of precedence of the delegations.

No representative may interrupt the voting except for a point of order relating to the manner in which it is being conducted. The voting shall conclude when the president or chair has announced the results.

Article 38. Once discussion is closed, the proposals presented, together with any amendments thereto, shall be put to a vote immediately.

Proposals shall be voted upon in the order in which they have been presented.

Article 39. An amendment shall be submitted for discussion and put to a vote before the proposal that it is intended to modify is put to a vote.

Article 40. When several amendments to a proposal are presented, the vote shall be taken first on the one that departs furthest from the original text. The other amendments shall be voted upon in like order. In case of doubt in this regard, they shall be considered in the order of their presentation.

Article 41. When the adoption of an amendment necessarily implies the exclusion of another, the latter shall not be put to a vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the proposal as amended shall be put to a vote.

VIII. WORKING GROUPS OF THE CONGRESS

Article 42. The Congress shall have three plenary sessions and six working groups with multiprofessional participation.

Each delegation shall have the right to be represented in each one of the working groups.