The Summit of the Americas (SOA) are institutionalized gatherings of heads of state and government of the member states of the Western Hemisphere where leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced by countries in the Americas.
SISCA is a mechanism that provides Member States the tools to achieve the targets set in the mandates, in order to be measurable for the medium and long-term through a results-oriented management.
The events that garnered the most general public and media attention were the Quebec City and Mar del Plata summits (3rd and 4th respectively), both of which provoked very large anti-globalization and anti-Free Trade Area of the Americas protests and attendant police response.
Later, the OAS had an essential role in the preparation and execution of the Summit on Sustainable Development held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia in 1996.
The OAS offered technical support for the organization of the preparatory meetings in several thematic areas such as education, science and technology, public participation, and drugs, among others.
The governments called for the organizations of the Inter-American system to provide in-depth support and assistance in the preparation for the Fourth Summit of the Americas.
In the Plan of Action of Mar del Plata, the institutions of the JSWG were called to perform specific tasks in order to achieve the objectives in terms of growth and democratic governance in the region.
During the Fifth Summit of the Americas, held in Trinidad and Tobago from April 17 to 19, 2009, the Heads of State and Government embarked upon a new era of inter-American relations.
The Sixth Summit of the Americas was held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on April 14-15, 2012, and its mandates focused on the integration of physical infrastructure in the Americas, solving poverty, inequality and inequity, disaster risk reduction and management, access to and use of information and communication technologies, and the implementation of policies for citizen security and the prevention of transnational organized crime.
The following institutions are members of the JSWG: Civil society organizations, indigenous peoples, youth, private sector, labor unions and other social actors play an essential role in the Summits Process.
They provide recommendation on the thematic areas to the Member States in preparation for future Summits and assist in the implementation of initiatives in the development of the hemispheric agenda.