Ambassador John elected Chair of OAS

H. E. Ellsworth I. A. John, Ambassador of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been elected by the Organization of American States (OAS) to chair the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development. This Committee is responsible for making decisions and formulating recommendations with respect to the planning, programming, budgeting, operations control, monitoring and evaluation of cooperation projects and activities conducted within the purview of the OAS.{{more}}

Over the past five years, the OAS has funded seven national projects for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, each averaging US$100,000. These projects included Institutional Strengthening of Basic Education Programming in Rural Communities, Constitution Reform, Poverty Reduction and Capacity Building among Rural Women and Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Developing the Northwest Region of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Cross Country Road).

This Committee is also responsible for reviewing and updating, as needed, the rules and regulations governing the Scholarship program. This program has provided tremendous benefit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the area of Human Capacity Building.

Ambassador John has expressed the view that while the Technical Cooperation Program at the OAS has provided meaningful assistance to the member states, more needs to be done to ensure that the assistance leads to sustainable development and growth in our countries.