At the invitation of the UNESCO Bangkok office, IFACCA co-hosted a seminar for representatives of signatory countries from Asia-Pacific of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in Bangkok, Thailand from 4-6 March.

Representatives and Convention focal points from nine countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, New Zealand, Korea, Tajikistan and Vietnam) attended the seminar entitled ‘Diversity of Cultural Expressions in Asia: Challenges and Perspectives on the Implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Promotion and Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions’.

Other participants included guest speakers, Giselle Dupin (focal point for the 2005 Convention and representative of the Ministry of Culture of Brazil) and Danielle Cliche (Chief of UNESCO’s Diversity of Culture Expressions Division and Secretary of the Convention, Paris) and representatives from Thailand and Nepal, who attended as observers.

The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted by UNESCO in October 2005, entered into force in March 2007. The Convention seeks to strengthen the five inseparable links of the same chain: creation, production, distribution/dissemination, access and enjoyment of cultural expressions, as conveyed by cultural activities, goods and services.

The meeting agenda covered cultural policies and measures; international cooperation, preferential treatment and artists’ mobility; integration of culture in sustainable development; engaging civil society’ and new avenues for the strengthening of the Convention. Each of the meeting participants also presented on their experiences of implementing and reporting on the Convention.

As background to the seminar, IFACCA had prepared a draft report ‘Analytical Report on Cultural Policies and the 2005 Convention in Asia’. A final version of this report will be available soon.

In 2010 IFACCA published the IFACCA Briefing Note for National Arts Funding Agencies: UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. This briefing note is available in English, Spanish and French from the topic page on our website: http://www.ifacca.org/topic/convention-cultural-diversity/.