The General Assembly of the Organization of American States () is the supreme decision-making body of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The General Assembly came into being as a part of the restructuring of the OAS that took place following adoption of the Protocol of Buenos Aires (signed 27 February 1967; in force as of 12 March 1970), which contained extensive amendments to the Organization's Charter. Prior to these changes, the OAS's top body was the Inter-American Conference, which in turn was the successor to the International Conference of American States.

The Charter requires that the General Assembly convene once every year in a regular session. In special circumstances, and with the approval of two-thirds of the member states, the Permanent Council can convene special sessions.

The Organization's member states take turns hosting the General Assembly on a rotating basis. The states are represented at its sessions by their chosen delegates: generally, their ministers of foreign affairs, or their appointed deputies. Each state has one vote, and most matters – except for those for which the Charter or the General Assembly's own rules of procedure specifically require a two-thirds majority – are settled by a simple majority vote.

The General Assembly's powers include setting the OAS's general course and policies by means of resolutions and declarations; approving its budget and determining the contributions payable by the member states; approving the reports and previous year's actions of the OAS's specialized agencies; and electing members to serve on those agencies.

Regular sessions RankHost cityHost country Date 1st San José 14–23 April 19712nd Washington, D.C. 11–21 April 19723rd Washington, D.C. 4–15 April 19734th Atlanta 19 April – 1 May 19745thWashington, D.C. 8–19 May 19756thSantiago 4–18 June 19767thSt. George's 14–22 June 19778thWashington, D.C. 21 June – 1 July 19789th La Paz 22–31 October 1979 10thWashington, D.C. 19–26 November 1980 11thCastries 2–11 December 198112thWashington, D.C. 15–21 December 198213thWashington, D.C. 14–18 November 198314th Brasília 12–17 November 1984 15thCartagena 5–9 December 198516thGuatemala City 11–15 November 1986 17thWashington, D.C. 9–14 November 198718thSan Salvador 14–19 November 198819thWashington, D.C. 13–18 November 198920thAsunción 4–8 June 199021stSantiago 3–8 June 199122ndNassau 18–23 May 199223rdManagua 7–11 June 1993 24thBelém 6–10 June 199425thMontrouis 5–9 June 199526thPanama City 3–7 June 1996 27thLima 1–5 June 199728thCaracas 1–3 June 199829thGuatemala City 6–8 June 1999 30thWindsor 4–6 June 200031stSan José 3–5 June 2001 32ndBridgetown 2–4 June 2002 33rdSantiago 8–10 June 200334thQuito 6–8 June 2004 35thFort Lauderdale 5–7 June 200536thSanto Domingo 4–6 June 200637thPanama City 3–5 June 200738thMedellín 1–3 June 200839thSan Pedro Sula 2–3 June 2009The 39th General Assembly of the Organization of American States(OAS) will be held the week following a 7.3 Mw 2009 Honduras earthquake40thLima 6–8 June 201041stSan Salvador 5–7 June 201142ndCochabamba 3–5 June 2012http://www.oas.org/en/42ga/43rdAntigua Guatemala 4–6 June 2013http://www.oas.org/en/43ga/44thAsunción 3–5 June 2014http://www.oas.org/en/44ga/45thWashington, D.C. 15–16 June 2015http://www.oas.org/en/45ga/46thSanto Domingo 13–15 June 2016http://www.oas.org/en/46ga/47thCancún 18–21 June 201748thWashington, D.C. 4–5 June 201849thMedellín26–28 June 201950thWashington, D.C.20–21 October 202051stGuatemala City (Virtual)10–12 November 202152ndLima5–7 October 202253rdWashington, D.C.21–23 June 202354thAsunción26–28 June 202455thSt. John's25–27 June 202556thPanama City22–24 June 2026

See also Summit of the Americas

References

External links Regular Meetings of the General Assembly