The Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Cesar Gaviria, today announced the appointment of Ambassador Terence Todman as OAS Special Envoy to Promote Dialogue in Haiti.

The Secretary General stated that the initiative emanates from the Santiago General Assembly which asked him in AG/RES. 1959 “to explore ways to promote increased dialogue between the Government of Haiti and civil society and the Convergence Democratique.” Gaviria noted that Ambassador Todman’s distinguished career makes him ideally suited to undertake this vital task.

Emphasising that the formation of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), in keeping with OAS Permanent Council Resolution 822, is indispensable for the holding of free, fair and credible elections in Haiti, the Secretary General said that Ambassador Todman will seek to catalyze security- and confidence-building measures and the establishment of the CEP in accordance with Resolution 822. 

Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi joined Gaviria in welcoming Ambassador Todman’s appointment, underscoring that the Special Envoy’s efforts build upon past OAS activities.

Todman indicated that he intends to work assiduously to find a consensual democratic solution to the formation of the CEP and to submit an independent personal evaluation that will form part of the September Report of the Secretary General as called for in AG/RES. 1959.

Ambassador Todman, a United States citizen born in St. Thomas, the US Virgin Islands, retired from the Senior Foreign Service in 1993 as a Career Ambassador after 41 years during which he served, among other posts, as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs and as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Argentina, Denmark, Spain, Costa Rica, Guinea, and the Republic of Chad.

The OAS Special Mission for Strengthening Democracy in Haiti will collaborate with Ambassador Todman in support of Resolution AG/1959, while continuing to implement its mandates under OAS Resolutions CP/806 and CP/822.

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