The TI earlier had presented series of detailed recommendations to curb humanitarian issues including corruption and social asymmetries. In its recent press release it had appealed the OAS member states to urgently implement anti-corruption laws to ensure peace, security and sustainable development of the region.

According to Transparency International (TI), the anti-corruption organisation, despite the OAS being the first regional organization to adopt a convention against corruption in 1996, TI monitoring reports show there are serious gaps in its implementation. Although Insulza and other participants were able to identify the issues, it is not sure how the General Assembly – “Peace, Security and Cooperation” would translate them into meaningful action.

The Secretary General Insulza acknowledged “in Latin America there are too many poor, and we have important levels of inequality; but most Afro-descendants are poor, most indigenous citizens are poor, an important number of households headed by women are poor, and 80 percent of the disabled are poor. Therefore, poverty and inequality in our region have colour, gender and condition. It’s a reality. That is why we place such strong emphasis on the relationship between discrimination and human rights and also between discrimination and socio-economic problems.”

Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest income inequality worldwide, with five of the ten most unequal countries in the world located in the region. The two-day meet is believed to have reached an agreement on broad-based involvement from private business entities along with governments to promote democracy, social equality and responsibility, and the fight against crime.

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The release said Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the standards and certification wing of the Fairtrade movement has collaborated with the ARM for the successful completion of the certification program. Through the new standard, gold products including jewellery, coins and religious artefacts will be essentially certified and labelled with the FAIRTRADE and FAIRMINED (F&F) marks.

The F&F marked gold products are hoped to emancipate the A&S miners from the ugly grip of middlemen who deprive them of obtaining proper value for their merchandise. The brand is believed to provide an opportunity for consumers to indirectly involve in a social cause without shelling out anything extra. The proceeds of the organized and increased market access are also understood to radically change the mining methods.

Surprisingly, the A&S miners annually produce just 15 percent of global gold supplies, but their labour effort constitutes 90 percent of gold extraction. Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade said many in the trade were exploited by the middle men who pay below market prices and cheated them on weight and purity of the gold content. He added the F&F standards were an important development tool, and would complement other development interventions such as access to basic amenities to the communities.

Similarly, Cristina Echavarria, the ARM´s Executive Director, said the F&F program was providing a win-win platform for both A&S miners through their workmanships and consumers with their jewellery purchases. The program also promotes ethical consumer habits by making them aware of what they buy and how the proceeds of the same are utilized.

The F&F gold will be initially launched in the UK and then rolled out to other countries with a long term vision of capturing 5 percent of the gold jewellery market over a 15-year period, totalling 15 tonnes of the F&F gold annually. The standard was piloted by the ARM with nine legally established mining producer organizations in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and now applications are open to all A&S gold mining organizations in Latin America. More producer organizations from Latin America are expected to join the system by 2011 and beyond, and from 2010 the ARM plans to establish a network of pilot projects in Africa, and subsequently in Asia.

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