A summit meeting is a gathering of leaders or people of influence who are brought together to discuss an important issue. This type of event tends to have a well-thought-out agenda that includes speakers who will share their point of view and present solutions for the issue at hand. The purpose of this type of event is to bring awareness and to spark action from attendees who will help create a positive impact in the world.
The Summit of the Americas was a multilateral meeting that took place in Miami, Florida, in December of 1994. The Summit produced a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action signed by all 34 Heads of State and Government who participated in the meeting. One of the main outcomes of the Miami Summit was a commitment to work towards creating the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The following year, the Summit Implementation Review Group was established to carry out follow-up on the implementation of the Plan of Action.
The second important outcome of the Miami Summit was that Civil Society was invited to participate in the Summit’s preparatory process for the first time. The Working Group in charge of preparing the documents for the Summit held a session where representatives from Civil Society organizations were invited to take part, under equal conditions, in drafting a proposal on sustainable development. In addition, the Summit Implementation Review Group was set up to include representatives of four principal multilateral organizations (the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Bank) with responsibilities for implementing specific Summit issues.
