- 46 - of education, health, culture, social and economic equality, welfare and leisure, etc., within the framework of promoting the integral development of the human being. 19. For this reason we support and foster efforts to develop, modernize, and strengthen the Ministries of Labor through regional action that takes into account the important role of horizontal cooperation and technical assistance. To that effect, also, we support the proposal to conduct a feasibility study of options for establishing a mechanism, under the auspices of the IACML, oriented toward the modernization of labor administrations, and also to increase international collaboration and coordination in support of these objectives. We will also study the possibility of creating an inter-American mechanism to promote decent work and strengthen training. In these processes, we will consider the experiences and resources available in member states and regional and international organizations, especially the OAS, PAHO and ILO. The countries of the region will contribute to the financing of the aforementioned proposals according to their means. 20. Socioeconomic challenges cannot be faced exclusively through social policies, and adequate consideration must be given to the economic policies necessary to create the capacity to introduce and sustain the social agenda. A social and labor agenda is an integral part of economic growth and is a way of ensuring the equitable distribution of benefits. Diverse factors, such as political instability and conflict, poor policy and institutional frameworks, corruption, absence of overall health, education and social welfare programs, lack of infrastructure and access to technological changes, and unfavorable investment climate, are conducive to poverty and inequality. An integrated policy framework combining economic and social policies must take account of the economic realities countries face in implementing a comprehensive social agenda. 21. The integration of the economic and social development objectives also requires stronger forms of interaction between governments and citizens at the domestic, regional or hemispheric levels. Freedom of association and the right to organize, social dialogue, tripartism and other institutional means of social participation are crucial for generating consensus on these matters. We highly value the participation of the Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE) and the Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Matters (CEATAL) in the IACML.1/ The InterAmerican Democratic Charter declares that citizen participation in development issues is fundamental for the exercise and strengthening of democracy. Social dialogue is the means for achieving the indispensable agreements for ensuring decent work and respect for the basic rights and dignity of people. We want to intensify the dialogue and cooperation with regional and international organizations that are active in the area of development and labor in the Americas, principal among these being the Organization of American States (OAS), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (CABEI), and the World Bank. 22. We follow with interest the negotiations for the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), in the framework of the Summit of the Americas process for the purpose of facilitating the contribution of economic integration to the strengthening of democracy, the creation of prosperity, job creation, the reduction in poverty, sustainable development, and the realization of 1. The Joint CEATAL-COSATE Declaration on the occasion of the XIII Inter-American Ministers of Labor is attached to this Declaration.