WASHINGTON, USA (CMC) – The Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, is calling on Caribbean countries to help strengthen the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) system.

Almagro has also expressed support for a proposal to double the budget of the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The secretary general welcomed the September 30 communiqué from the commission announcing that it had overcome the immediate and severe financial crisis, which threatened to limit its capacity to comply with basic duties in 2016.

At the same time, Almagro said he “remains focused on the need to place both the commission and the Court of Human Rights on a sound, long-term financial footing to allow both bodies to plan and execute their work in a predictable and sustainable manner.”

In this context, the presidents of the commission and the court jointly wrote to the secretary general proposing that the budgets of the two human rights bodies be doubled.

“The joint proposal seeks to provide medium and long-term sustainability and ensure that the commission and the court fulfil their mandates in an effective and timely manner by increasing contributions from OAS member states and relying less on contributions from permanent observers and other donors,” the OAS said in a statement.

It said the secretary general “fully endorses the joint proposal, especially as it would allow the Court and the Commission to hold more sessions; would allow the commissioners and the judges more time to review, analyse and render judgements; [and] would allow for the creation of a special rapporteur for economic and social rights, as well as the strengthening of the existing rapporteurs.”

Almagro also said increased financial contributions from member states “would help to ensure long-term stability for staff members of the Secretariats to both organs and would lead to an increase in the number of cases resolved by the commission and the court.”

“The secretary general believes that the member states have a responsibility to ensure that the Inter-American Human Rights System is adequately funded so that it can fulfil its responsibilities under the OAS Charter, the American Convention on Human Rights, and other Inter-American human rights instruments, and hopes that member states will accept the proposal from the Commission and Court,” the OAS said.