RCLAC8

The RCLAC8 was formally opened by Mahabir Gupta, as acting chair. The Committee expressed its satisfaction with the appointment of the two new members, Patricio Felmer and Arturo Martinez, and with the appointment for another mandate of José Antonio de la Peña, Mahabir Gupta and Elena Vigil. The Committee elected José Antonio de la Peña for another mandate as Chair, who then took over the chairmanship of the meeting.
One of the main issues discussed by the Committee was the proposal for the relocation of the Regional Office to Mexico. After being informed of the financial and logistical conditions under which Mexico will host The Regional Office, the Committee expressed its support for the process. The Committee approved the 2009 Annual Report and Financial Summary of presented by the Regional Office and acknowledged the offer of CONACYT to provide the 2010 grant to help with the transition period related to the relocation of the Regional Office to MexicoThe Committee was also informed of the efforts to implement the proposals of the priority area documents, and had a lively discussion about the integration of the activities and proposals of the Regional Offices to the global ICSU actions and strategies.
Finally, the Committee was informed of the General Cooperation Agreement signed in April 2010 with the Organization of American States and of the positive outcome of the request for Civil Society Organization status to ICSU-LAC at that organization.