The Permanent Representative of Barbados to the Organization of American States (OAS), John E. Beale today assumed the Chair of the Inter- American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), the main body of the hemispheric organization with decision making power in matters of partnership for integral development.
The Chair of the CIDI was received from the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, Deborah-Mae Lovell, who held the role for the past six months and who concluded her term highlighting development as a “central” issue in the work of the OAS. "These are interesting times in the chapter of development for the region, and in the last six months we have been working for the Council to address this issue from a broader and invigorated perspective," said the Caribbean ambassador, who also offered her support to the incoming Chair.
For his part, Ambassador Beale said that "Integral development really says it all about the OAS," because in his view it is an issue that affects both developing and developed countries. "Development is the way and the engine of economic growth," he said, recalling that, of all the pillars of the OAS, this is the most important because “this is the one that will help us achieve the other ones.”