The OAS Headquarters building located in Washington D.C. is also known as the Pan American Union. The following photos are selected from the OAS website, To see additional views, visit the OAS photo gallery

• Main building
• Interior view
• Courtyard
• Hall of the Americas
• Art Museum of the Americas

Live Webcasts of OAS Special Sessions

The International Union of American Republics, the world's earliest regional organization and the precursor to the Organization of American States, was established during the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C., October 1889 to April 1890. The Conference was held “ for the purpose of discussing and recommending for adoption to their respective Governments some plan of arbitration for the settlement of disagreements and disputes that may hereafter arise between them, and for considering questions relating to the improvement of business intercourse and means of direct communication between said countries, and to encourage such reciprocal commercial relations as will be beneficial to all and secure more extensive markets for the products of each of said countries."[1] The foundations of what would become the inter-American system emerged from this First Conference of American States. Emphasized were: commercial concerns directed toward achieving greater integration; legal concerns with strengthening state and private sector ties in a peaceful environment of regional cooperation and security; and the establishment of specialized institutions in different spheres. [2]

In 1901, the name of the Union was changed to the International Bureau of American Republics and, in 1910 at the Fourth International Conference of American States held in Buenos Aires, its name was changed to the "Union of American Republics" and the "Pan American Union" became its Secretariat.

It was not until 1948, at the Ninth International Conference of American States in Bogotá, Colombia, that the Charter of the Organization of American States was signed and the OAS came into being.  As described in Article 1, the OAS was created as "an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence." Today, the Organization has 35 member states and 67 permanent observers. It follows what it calls a four-pronged approach to effectively implement its objectives based on its main pillars: democracy, human rights, security, and development.”[3]

The same 1948 conference that established the OAS adopted the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, the region’s first official document dedicated to the protection of human rights. The Declaration actually predates the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights by some months. The American Convention on Human Rights (“Pact of San José” Costa Rica) was adopted in 1969 and came into force in 1978.

From early on, the member States were convinced that the development of an inter-American system of institutions would be beneficial to fostering cooperation in the hemisphere. Some of the early organizations that they founded are: the Pan American Health Organization (1902), which later became the regional office of the World Health Organization; the Inter-American Juridical Committee (1906); the Inter-American Children's Institute (1927); the Inter-American Commission of Women (1928); the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (1928); the Inter-American Indian Institute (1940); the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (1942); and the Inter-American Defense Board (1942), which were then followed, after the OAS was well established, by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (1959), Inter-American Court of Human Rights (1979),the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (1993), and the Inter-American Committee on Ports (1998)  to name only a few.  For further information on the Specialized organizations of the OAS see: Specialized organizations and/or Other Autonomous and/or Decentralized Organs, Agencies, Entities, and Dependencies.  

In addition to the role that the OAS plays in political, social and juridical issues, its human rights institutions are an essential part  of the institution’s raison d'être. For more information, please explore the other tabs of this guide.