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The promotion of democratic governance inspires the work of the Department of State Modernization and Governance (DMEG, for its Spanish Acronym) and all of its sections. The Department promotes cross-cutting strategies, initiatives, and policies for greater transparency, access to public information, public financing, and technological modernization.

The DMEG supports OAS member states’ efforts to develop and facilitate reforms and processes required by governmental institutions, in order to contribute to the strengthening of democratic governance and respond promptly and efficiently to the requests of their citizens, all in an effort to develop more secure, equitable, free, and prosperous societies.

Considering that solid institutions that function thoroughly contribute to democratic governance, the Department will support Member states in their efforts to strengthen and modernize their democratic institutions and to develop reforms that emphasize democratic practices and values, such as transparency, probity, accountability, among others, in the achievement of their functions.

The DMEG will work in conjunction with Civil Services, Legislative Institutions, Local Governments, Political Parties, and Civil Society to address the challenges of democratic governance and to achieve greater efficiency and transparency in the exercise of public functions. It will seek greater balance in the participation of different strategic actors in collective decision making and in facilitating agreements among these same actors, within the norms and principles of democracy.

The Department’s projects  adhere to articles 4, 26 and 27 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which affirm that “(t)ransparency in government activities, probity, responsible public administration on the part of governments, respect for social rights, and freedom of expression and of the press are essential components of the exercise of democracy”; and urge the OAS to continue to carry out programs designed to promote democratic culture, good governance, sound administration, and the strengthening of political institutions. The projects also attend to the demands established within resolutions adopted by the General Assemblies and the Summits of the Americas that are relative to the role of legislative institutions and decentralization processes in the consolidation of democracy. These projects seek to establish synergies within the Department and the General Secretariat of the OAS, with the aim of strengthening institutions, training the actors involved, accumulating technical expertise, and fostering the reproduction of the experiences. 




Function and objectives

1. To strengthen the General Secretariat’s capacity to provide analytical and technical assistance in the promotion and support of public service reforms that are effective and relevant to the needs of citizens within countries that require assistance.

2.  To promote the adoption of tools and mechanisms of citizen participation in decision making and to foster the dialogue and consensus building among relevant actors to the decision-making processes.

3. To support actions that will improve the representative systems of all sectors of the population within the different powers of the State and contribute to the transparency and increase in confidence of public institutions.

4. To support the development of performance evaluation mechanisms for the public function and to provide assistance in the achievement of greater efficiency and transparency in its exercise, including the use of the technological advances.

5. To carry out actions aimed at building democratic governance at the local level, through the study of decentralization processes in the decision making and execution of public services with emphasis in transparency, as well as greater civil participation in the decision making.




Team

Pablo Zúñiga
Director

Ana María Pereyra
Administrative Assistant 

Section of Transparency  and Governance

María del Carmen Palau
Specialist

Carmen Apaza
Consultant

Section of Support to Legislatives Institutions

Rubén M. Perina
Principal Specialist, Special adviser

Moises Benamor
Senior Specialist

Section on Decentralization

Milagros Freyre
Specialist

Fernanda Massaccesi
Consultant

María Gertrudis Hernández
Consultant

Section of Development of the Public Administration

Silverio Zebral
Senior Specialist

Alejandro Duarte
Consultant

Support for the Countries of the Caribbean

Paul Spencer
Senior Specialist, Special adviser in Countries of the Caribbean