The International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, represented by European Coordinator Diane Dodd, participated this week in a dialogue of civil society observers with the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) for the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The IGC Tenth Ordinary Session took place at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris on 12-15 December 2016.

A session for civil society observers took place during the morning of 12 December 2016, led by Danielle Cliche (UNESCO) and Charles Vallerand (International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity).  They noted that 17 individual decisions on the role of civil society in the implementation of the convention have taken place, and drew participants’ attention to Article 11 which sets out a formal role for civil society. The meeting was the result of this process and signalled an expectation that civil society will self-organise more formal ways to support, inform and work with the IGC in the future.

During the meeting, it was noted that the Convention has now been ratified by 145 countries and the EU Commission. A global report has been published and a new training module on freedom of expression will soon be launched. The IGC overwhelmingly welcomed the involvement of civil society and the decision was adopted.