Secretariat for Administration and Finance Office of Procurement Services

1. OAS General SecretariatTravel Reportfor 2008 Secretariat for Administration and FinanceOffice of ProcurementServices

2. Table Of Contents • Why OAS travels? • General Assembly Travel Mandate • Compliance with Travel Policy Guidelines • Administrative Memorandum 79 Rev.3 • Services and Achievements in 2008 • 2008 Travel Statistics • Looking forward in 2009 • Conclusion

3. Why OAS Travels? - Travel is an integral part of doing business - • To achieve OAS objectives and to execute mandates. • To bring people together, both at headquarters and throughout the region, to prevent conflict, strengthen cooperation and advance common values and interests. • To facilitate attendance at summits, ministerials, high-level and regional networking meetings. • To design and implement field-oriented development cooperation activities. • To provide electoral observation and exploratory mission services, as well as peace keeping missions.

4. General Assembly Travel Mandate AG/RES. 2437 (XXXVIII-O/08),Section II, Paragraphs A.1 (c) and A. 12 require the General Secretariat to: • Management reports “…provide the following reports on an annual basis: a comprehensive report regarding the resources allocated for compliance with the mandates of the member states of the Organization, listed by effective date, object of expenditure (e.g. travel, contracts), and responsible area of the Secretariat…” • Travel “…reinforce …compliance with the rule established by the Permanent Council which requires that all tickets paid for by the Regular Fund, FEMCIDI, specific funds, and trust funds administered by the General Secretariat, be purchased in economy class, except for travel by the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General, and the Chair of the Permanent Council, and to report to the Permanent Council on a quarterly basis on any instances of noncompliance with that rule.”

5. Administrative Memorandum No 79 Rev. 3 OAS Travel Policy, revised March 3, 2006, provides the travel authority, administrative and financial procedures and reporting instructions for all OAS official travel: • Official travel is travel undertaken on behalf of the GS/OAS and is managed by the corresponding dependency (i.e. Requesting Area). • Secretaries and Executive Secretaries, Department and Office Directors, and Section Chiefs (supervisors) must ensure that adequate budget authorization is available to finance any and all types of official travel. • All travel must be authorized in advance and in writing. Unplanned travel requires approval from the Chief of Staff of the Secretary General.

6. Administrative Memorandum No 79 Rev. 3 (cont’d) • Persons traveling on behalf of GS/OAS are entitled to the standard per-diem and terminal expenses. Exceptions apply only in rare cases, with prior approval. • A Travel Expense Claim (TEC) must be filed by all staff members except for General Assembly and statutory travel. • All staff members who travel on official business (with the exception of the SG, ASG, Secretaries and Executive Secretaries) must submit a report to the supervisor who authorized the travel within 15 days of returning.

7. Other Travel Policy Guidelines • All tickets paid for by any OAS fund should “be purchased in economy class, except for travel by the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General, and the Chair of the Permanent Council”… “unless specific exception is made at the direction of the Secretary General.” (Staff Rule 108.9(a), AG/RES. 2257 (XXXVI-O/06), Paragraph III.A.12.b and AG/RES. 2353 (XXXVII-O/07), Section III General Provisions, paragraph A.11.) • From time to time, the Secretary General grants exceptions to VIPs, including high officials and former presidents and foreign ministers, serving as leaders of electoral and special missions. Often, these officials serve pro-bono, at considerable savings to the Organization. In many cases, the cost of business class is not significantly different from that of an economy fare.

8. Services and Achievementsin 2008 - Executing the Mandate - In “a culture of austerity, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and prudence in the use, execution, and management of the Organization’s resources.”

9. 2008 Travel in Retrospect • Customer satisfaction with “off-site” travel services improved. • Omega World Travel (OWT - GS/OAS’ official travel services provider) gained a better understanding of OAS’ operations, and was better equipped to respond to OAS travel needs. • Client awareness and better planning reduced the number of complaints. • Results improved trust and confidence in off-site services. • 4,613 tickets were purchased in 2008 through OWT, as compared to 3,525 in 2007, an increase of 31%. • Increase represented more OAS participation in projects and missions, as well as increased use of the OWT off-site services.

10. 2008 Travel in Retrospect (cont’d) • Corporate airline contract signed with COPA generated additional cost savings on fares. As a result, COPA was the No. 2 airline carrier for the OAS in 2008. (American Airlines continues to be the No. 1 carrier.) • New Milestone: 68% of OAS travel through OWT was booked one week or more in advance, allowing for more discounts. • Purchase order approval turnaround time remained under one business day for travel related services. • Business ExtrAA points earned as a result of the contractual agreement with American Airlines were used last year to cover the home travel leave benefit for staff members eligible under our Staff Rules. • Enhanced travel data from OWT.

11. Miles and Points Miles:Mileage points are awarded to individual travelers based on the airline carrier’s frequent flier or mileage points system, and are treated as personal miles accrued. The GS/OAS does not prohibit use of mileage points accrued on official OAS travel. By airline policy, all frequent flier miles are awarded exclusively to the travelers’ accounts. Points:The GS/OAS has a “Business ExtrAA Account” special point program with American Airlines. It awards the GS/OAS one point for every $10 spent on eligible tickets. Since 2007, these points have accumulated and are managed by the SAF/OPS Travel Desk. They are redeemed for authorized official travel only. Earned in 2007: 134,974 Earned in 2008: 208,708 Redeemed in 2008: 194,000 Redemption purpose: Staff Home Leave travel that would otherwise be charged to the Regular Fund.

12. TRAVEL STATISTICSJanuary – December2007 and 2008

13. Travel Statistics Key travel data is provided in the following summary charts: • Comparative travel data in all categories. • Airfare purchases by Area. • Airfare purchases by Location. • Airfares purchased at Headquarters through OWT. • Airfares purchased in advance of planned travel. • Dollar impact of airfares purchased in advance of official travel. • Compliance with the Policy on economy class travel.

14. Comparative Travel Data All Categories – By Year * The 2007 budget of $168 Mand 2008 budget of $185 M include Regular, Specific, Voluntary, Trust and other Funds. The 2008 budget was 10% higher than 2007. ** The 0.4% increase represents more OAS participation in projects and missions, and higher industry costs such as fuel and added fees.

15. Travel Data Airfare by Areas

16. Travel Data Airfare by Location * Travel Away from Headquarters includes all travel purchased by local travel agencies in the Member States.

17. Travel Summary Airfares Purchased at Headquarters Through Omega World Travel

18. Fare Purchases in Advance of Planned Travel * Total number of tickets does not include any new or additional tickets issued by Omega World Travel as a result of exchanges or refunds due to itinerary changes.

19. Compliance with the Policy onEconomy Class Travel • Headquarters airfare: $4,042,000 • Non-compliant: Regular Fund = $15,034 and Specific Fund = $16,248 • The “non-compliant” travel involves: • Six non-OAS staff – in every case, 1 or 2 segments of the full trip were in business class and the • other segments in economy class, • Fourteen OAS staff – involving 67 trip segments, 22 of which were in other-than-economy class. • Hence, compliance with the policy is nearly universal.

20. Looking Forward in 2009 • Enforce new SAF management guidance on more effective use of scarce resources – Travel:http://oasconnect/Portals/0/FinancePortal/Budgetary%20and%20Financial%20Operational%20Guidelines-2009%20Fiscal%20Year%20ALL.pdf • Implement the on-line booking tool CliqBook simultaneously with the Concur expense reporting tool. • Bring the Member States on-line through the Omega Radius partners. • Improve capacity to more accurately report on travel transactions and statistics from OAS National Offices.

21. In Conclusion… • As expected, the current global financial conditions are having an impact on travel costs and conditions across all segments of the world economy. • Travel continues to be a central means by which OAS activities are conducted throughout the hemisphere as the GS/OAS seeks to communicate and implement mandates established by the Member States. • With greater use of state-of-the-art teleconferencing facilities at headquarters, we anticipate that travel costs will remain under control even as prices rise.