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Follow-Up Mechanisms

The OAS member states hold each other accountable on a range of issues. They have adopted innovative mechanisms to evaluate their progress in combating illegal drugs, corruption, and domestic violence.

• Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)
  
  The Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) is an instrument of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) designed to measure the progress made by the 34 member states of the OAS in combating illegal drugs. This evaluation is carried out through the preparation and publication of national and hemispheric reports on progress made by member states with regard to drug control. As a result of a mandate from the Heads of State and Government at the Second Summit of the Americas, the MEM was created in 1999 with the objective of increasing coordination, dialogue, and cooperation among the 34 member states in order to confront the drug problem in the region more efficiently.

• Follow-up Mechanism for the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC)
  
  The Follow-up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) is an intergovernmental body established within the framework of the OAS. It supports the States Parties to the Convention in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention through a process of reciprocal evaluation, based on conditions of equality among the states. Through this mechanism, recommendations are formulated with respect to those areas in which there are legal gaps or in which further progress is necessary.
• Mechanism to Follow Up on Implementation of the "Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, ‘Convention of Belém do Pará’" (MESECVI)
  
  Since its creation in 1928, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) has worked to strengthen women’s human rights. One of its key initiatives led to the adoption in 1994, by the General Assembly, of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, also known as the Convention of Belém do Pará. This international treaty is the only one of its kind in the world and has been ratified by 32 OAS member states.
  
  The Convention has impacted laws and policies in many member states and has raised awareness that violence against women is a violation of human rights. However, the Convention’s goals have yet to be fully realized, and its provisions are not fully implemented. The CIM reached that conclusion based on a study and as the result of subregional meetings on this issue. Consequently, the States Parties to the Convention decided to develop a follow-up mechanism to systematically evaluate its implementation in their countries.
• Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) of the Summits of the Americas process
  
  The Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) is the core management body of the Summits process and comprises the 34 democratically elected governments of the member states of the OAS. Each government is represented in the SIRG by its appointed National Coordinator. The SIRG was created in 1995 and is chaired by whichever member state is the current host of the Summit of the Americas. Trinidad and Tobago, the host of the Fifth Summit, is the current Chair of the SIRG.
• Summits of the Americas Implementation and Follow-up System (SISCA)
  
  In an attempt to improve the Summit process and to develop concrete, viable solutions to Summit-related challenges, the Summits of the Americas Secretariat has prepared an initial proposal for a follow-up system for the mandates of the Summit of the Americas (SISCA) based on the System of Implementation and Management of Objectives and Outcomes of Government Policies (SIGOB) of the UNDP. SISCA is a mechanism that will provide member states with the tools needed to achieve the targets set in the mandates so that they can be measured in the medium and long terms through results-based management.