Meeting in Rio de Janeiro on 18 and 19 October, the UNASUR Health Institute’s Directing Council unanimously approved the proposals submitted by Executive Director Carina Vance for ISAGS’ internal personnel regulations and job classification manual.

This brings ISAGS one step closer to full institutionalisation, after the hosting agreement between Brazil and the UNASUR was officially sanctioned in May. The agreement reached yesterday creates the conditions for ISAGS not only to reinforce its internal structure, but also to leverage regional integration by engaging health experts from UNASUR countries on a permanent basis.

The two-day meeting, which took place in the context of the Special Meeting of ISAGS’ Directing Council, was attended by delegates from Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, in addition to the representatives of the UNASUR Secretariat-General. The delegations of Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay also took part by video conference. With unanimous approval, the proposal will come into force after a lapse of 15 days.

Closing the meeting, Director Vance thanked the member countries of the ISAGS Directing Council for their active participation and valuable contributions and for the high level of commitment to South American integration shown throughout the meeting.

The next step will be to engage four health experts to join the Institute’s technical staff by competitive selection open to nationals of the 12 UNASUR member countries.