Why we did the research
On 18 March 2007, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions entered force after reaching the required number of ratifications. The Convention, which establishes the right of - and imperative for - countries to adopt national cultural policies to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, has so far been ratified by a third of Commonwealth countries. In contrast, two thirds of Francophone countries have ratified the Convention.
The apparent lack of engagement of Commonwealth countries with the issues of cultural policy raised by the Convention serves as a departure point for new research being carried out by the Commonwealth Foundation's Culture and Diversity Programme during 2008. In November 2007, over 1500 delegates from 600 civil society organisations convened at the Commonwealth People's Forum in Kampala, Uganda ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. What emerged was the Kampala Civil Society Statement, in which civil society called upon member states, inter alia, to ratify and implement the Convention. Since November 2007, the Foundation has therefore taken seriously the task of facilitating dialogue between civil society and Commonwealth governments on questions of cultural policy, and in particular the 2005 UNESCO Convention.
Nevertheless, while issues of cultural policy are undoubtedly important for economic, social and human development, they do not necessarily capture the multitude of ways in which culture and development are connected. The Foundation's research project, then, seeks to explore the ways in which culture does and can act as an agent for development.
In November 2008, the findings of the research were published in a report called Putting Culture First. The report will inform future work at the Commonwealth level, and in particular is expected to serve as the foundation for further in-depth discussion of culture and development ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2009.
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 | Putting Culture First 622 KB) |
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