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| Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism MEM | ||
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· What are the characteristics of the MEM? · What is the MEM’s principle objective and what does it do? · What subject areas does the MEM cover?
· What is the principle evaluation tool of the MEM? · How often are evaluations made? · What sort of sanctions does the MEM have? · Is there another evaluation mechanism like the MEM? · How is the process being improved or updated? · Where can the MEM evaluation reports be found? · What important achievements has the MEM made?
THE GOVERNMENTAL EXPERT GROUP (GEG): · How is the Group of Experts organized? · How many experts are there per country? · Who are the experts that carry out the evaluations? · Do the experts visit the countries?
CICAD is the Spanish acronym for the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. It is an OAS organ that carries out action programs to help the countries prevent drug abuse, combat production and illicit traffic of drugs, and promote research in the area of drugs. CICAD was established in 1986 as a response to a mandate made by the OAS General Assembly. Its core mission is to strengthen human and institutional capacities and to focus the collective efforts of member states to reduce the production, traffic, and illegal use of drugs in the Americas. It has an Executive Secretariat, divided into several sections. The professional staff in these sections provides technical assistance, specialized training, and coordination of the projects carried out in the member states.
CICAD also offers the member states specialized training and technical and financial assistance. Currently Brazil holds the chair of CICAD and Colombia the vice-chair.
The MEM is the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism. It is a tool through which the anti-drug efforts of the 34 CICAD member states are measured throughout the hemisphere. CICAD developed this monitoring mechanism in 1998, acting on a mandate from the Second Summit of the Americas, which was held in Santiago, Chile. The MEM is not only an evaluation mechanism, but also one of cooperation among the countries which has continuity throughout the years. It is a tool for all to use, including the public, so as to learn of the current situation of the drug problem, together with strengths and weaknesses and in which areas work needs to be undertaken or where specific actions need to be strengthened.
The MEM:
· Is governmental and objective with the participation of specialized representatives of all governments. · Is transparent, impartial, and equal to assure objective evaluation. · Works with full and timely participation of the member states. · Doest not include sanctions of any kinds. · Works on the principle of confidentiality of information and deliberations until the national evaluations are complete, at which point they are made public.
The MEM has as an objective to increase coordination, dialogue and cooperation among the 34 OAS member status to deal with the drug issue with greater efficacy. All states recognize a shared responsibility for the drug situation and have a common commitment to confront and overcome this problem. In this regard, the MEM: · Encourages multilateral cooperation in the Hemisphere. · Offers assistance so that countries can promote internal support for anti-drug policies. · Offers countries the opportunity to request assistance in order to implement assigned recommendations. · Stimulates the change in the development of drug control system. · Enhances the capacity of member states and of the hemisphere to confront all the aspects of the drug problem.
The evaluation covers four main areas: anti-drug strategy, demand reduction, supply reduction, and control measures. These themes are subdivided and take into account areas such as prevention, treatment, data gathering resources, control of pharmaceutical and chemical products, judicial cooperation, control of firearms, and money laundering among others.
The MEM has been a valuable tool for the countries to identify their strengths and weaknesses in various areas of their anti-drug strategies and policies. It has given the countries solutions and means for correcting these weaknesses and thus improving their efforts to address the problem, not only at the national level but also at the hemispheric level. It has thereby reinforced the principle of shared responsibility and provided a way for member states to take advantage of the expertise and best practices of other countries.
The countries
complete a questionnaire of 51 indicators divided into different
thematic areas. Each country designates a National Coordinating
Entity (NCE's) whose responsibility is to compile the information for
the indicators and upload the completed indicators to the MEM
Evaluation Questionnaire Processing System. The MEM Unit offers
training to all NCE's on how to use the system and the kind of
information that should be provided when responding to the
indicators. Later, the 34 member states review the preliminary reports and are given the opportunity to comment, provide updated information, and answer any questions posed by the GEG before the final approval and publication of the reports.
The Questionnaire of Indicators is the
principle evaluation tool of the entire MEM process. Through the
questionnaire, in conjunction with the Introductory Document, the
country provides the initial information for the evaluation process.
The Introductory Document to the MEM questionnaire allows the NCE's
to briefly describe the situation of the drug problem in their
countries.
During the first three evaluation rounds, evaluations were made every two years. During the intermediary years, evaluations on the implementation of recommendations were made. The First Evaluation Round measured progress made during the years 1999-2000. Since then, (including the Fourth Evaluation Round), evaluations have been made until 2006. The MEM does not have any sanctions. It does not penalize but recommends actions to each country to strengthen its weak areas and improve its anti-drug strategy. These recommendations are the cornerstone of the mechanism because of their value in forging national anti-drug policies in each member state.
No, at this time there is no similar mechanism in the hemisphere for all the member countries to participate in evaluating the progress of their efforts and supporting one another to correct weaknesses. It is a multilateral process to promote cooperation among countries.
An Inter-Governmental Working Group (IWG) made up of delegations from the 34 countries meets between rounds to review all necessary matters and present recommendations to the commissioners for improving the mechanism.
The national and hemispheric evaluation reports can be found on the CICAD webpage (www.cicad.oas.org) under the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism section . The MEM has motivated action. Progress has been identified in all areas of the drug problem including for example, the strengthening of anti-drug institutions in the region; the ratification of important international conventions on the subject; the creation of Drug Observatories with the support of international cooperation; an increase in the number of national prevention strategies and programs; and the establishment and implementation of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) as an anti-money laundering measure.
THE GOVERNMENTAL EXPERT GROUP (GEG):
There is a small number of of working groups, each made up of experts in different areas from different subregions, and each has a group coordinator. The experts work in their respective groups and prepare draft evaluations. All the experts then review these texts in a plenary session. This guarantees the principle of all countries evaluating all countries, the multilateral element.
Each country designates one principal expert. However, each member state may name one or more alternates. Still, there is only one voice from each country. The expert never participates in the evaluation of his or her own country.
They are individuals selected by their governments who have technical knowledge and expertise in the various subject areas of the MEM: demand reduction, supply, production and control measures.
During the Third Evaluation Round the first in-situ visit was made. Under a petition made by the GEG and with the prior knowledge of the country, a visit was made to Antigua and Barbuda with the objective of identifying the problems in collecting and coordinating information related to its drug control strategies. The visiting team was composed of GEG experts, the CICAD Executive Secretary, and the coordinator of the MEM Unit. The in-situ visit resulted in being a major benefit for the country and helped the GEG with its evaluation of the country.
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