The Organization of American States (OAS) brings together all 35 independent states of the Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical, and social governmental forum in the Hemisphere. In addition, it has granted permanent observer status to 62 states, as well as to the European Union (EU).

The Organization was established in order to achieve among its member states—as stipulated in Article 1 of the Charter—“an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence.” 

MEMBER STATES:

All 35 independent countries of the Americas have ratified the OAS Charter and belong to the Organization.

WHAT THEY DO:

The OAS uses a four-pronged approach to effectively implement its essential purposes. The Organization’s four main pillars––democracy, human rights, security, and development––support each other and are intertwined through political dialogue, inclusiveness, cooperation, and legal and follow-up instruments that provide the OAS with the tools to maximize its work in the Hemisphere.

PURPOSE:

The Organization of American States, in order to put into practice the principles on which it is founded and to fulfill its regional obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, proclaims the following essential purposes:

1. To strengthen the peace and security of the continent;

2. To promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of nonintervention;

3. To prevent possible causes of difficulties and to ensure the pacific settlement of disputes that may arise among the Member States;

4. To provide for common action on the part of those States in the event of aggression;

5. To seek the solution of political, juridical, and economic problems that may arise among them;

6. To promote, by cooperative action, their economic, social, and cultural development;

7. To eradicate extreme poverty, which constitutes an obstacle to the full democratic development of the peoples of the hemisphere; and

8. To achieve an effective limitation of conventional weapons that will make it possible to devote the largest amount of resources to the economic and social development of the Member States."