The XVIII Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Culture concluded in Cartagena de Indias. The meeting was convened for the first time exclusively to discuss culture and was hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia with the support of the Organization of Ibero-Americas States (OEI) and the Ibero-American Secretariat General (SEGIB).
For Paulo Speller, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OEI), this conference took place in a historical framework. Among the agreements included in the final declaration are the establishment of a mechanism for cooperation and exchange of cultural projects, as well as providing support for the Iberoamerican Youth Pact by strengthening public policies aimed at strengthening cultural entrepreneurship and training.
Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of SEGIB, said: "The Iberoamerican cultural space has developed the best platform for horizontal cooperation that I know. The dichotomy between donors and recipients is broken and therefore this cooperation mechanism will become a model for the world."
""We propose a model that will combine efforts and prioritize the best initiatives presented by countries at this meeting. This is also an exercise to recognize that others do good work, and allows countries to decide, according to their public policies, which good practices can be implemented or adapted, "said the Minister of Culture of Colombia, Mariana Garcés Córdoba .
The 22 ministers and senior officials of culture of the countries attending the XVIII Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Culture in Cartagena de Indias, stressed the importance of culture for peace and the economy of nations.
"Culture represents 5% of the GDP of countries but it also opens perspectives and is a dimension that crosses all human activity. There is no way of separating culture because it integrates everything. And that's the perspective we work with through the three objectives of the summit that will take place here in Cartagena in October this year, “said Speller (OEI)
The Conference was held under the theme: ‘Youth, Entrepreneurship and Education’ with the objective of carrying out actions to benefit young people in order to promote their development in Latin America and guarantee their human rights.
Also, OEI and SEGIB signed a collaboration protocol in order to modernize, renovate and revitalize the Ibero-American space.
Three Iberian countries participated in the meeting, Andorra, Portugal and Spain, who shared experiences and opened new prospects for dialogue between Latin America and Europe and other regions of the world.
Through the declaration the countries highlighted the new methodology proposed by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia with the support of OEI and SEGIB. Thanks to the initiative, this initiative became an important platform for exchange of good practices.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Colombian Ministry of Culture and OEI signed an agreement to strengthen libraries for peace.