Den 30 september antog 150 medlemsstater till Unesco en ambitiös kulturdeklaration som avslutning på MONDIACULT 2022.
Den 28-30 september möttes 2 600 deltagare från 150 medlemsstater under tre dagar fyllda av kulturupplevelser, samtal och möten i Mexiko. Kulturministrar från 135 länder närvarade och som avslutning på konferensen antogs en historisk deklaration till förmån för kultur i alla dess former.
”Kultur är av grundläggande betydelse i våra samhällen. Genom kultur kan människor upptäcka sina gemensamma nämnare och bli fria och upplysta medborgare. Trots de framsteg som gjorts har kulturområdet ännu inte intagit den plats det förtjänar inom politiken eller i det internationella samarbetet. MONDICACULT 2022 är en stark signal för att ändra på detta. Den deklaration som antogs idag är ett åtagande att agera.”
/ Unescos generaldirektör Audrey Azoulay, 30 sept. 2022.
Deklarationen tar bland annat upp konstnärers sociala och ekonomiska rättigheter, rätten för urfolk att skydda och föra vidare nedärvd kunskap och skydd och främjande av kultur- och naturarv.
Därutöver behandlar deklarationen digitala plattformar, tillgänglighet och upphovsrättsskydd, liksom vikten av att stoppa illegal handel med kulturföremål.
Bland annat ska ett virtuellt museum för stulet kulturarv stå klart till år 2025. Museet är ett samarbete mellan Unesco och Interpol. Syftet är medborgare ska kunna ta del av verkens historia och bidra till att fastställa ursprunget för föremål där osäkerhet föreligger.
Pressmeddelande från Unesco 30 sept 2022:
MONDIACULT 2022: States adopt historic Declaration for Culture
Mexico City, 30 September – One hundred-fifty States unanimously adopted an ambitious Declaration for Culture on Friday at the end of a three-day conference convened by UNESCO. The text affirms culture as a “global public good”. It reflects countries’ agreement on a common roadmap to strengthen public policies in this field.
MONDIACULT 2022, the largest global conference devoted to culture in the last 40 years, brought together nearly 2,600 participants over three days in Mexico City. At UNESCO’s and Mexico’s invitation, 150 States sent delegations to the conference, 135 of them were represented at the highest level by ministers of culture.
“Culture has a fundamental role in our societies,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. “Through culture people can discover their common humanity and become free and enlightened citizens. Yet, despite progress, it still does not have the place it deserves in public policies and international cooperation. MONDIACULT 2022 has sent a powerful signal to change this. The Declaration adopted today is a commitment to action.”
In the Declaration, the fruit of ten months of multilateral negotiations led by UNESCO, States affirm for the first time that culture is a “global public good”. Consequently, States call for culture to be included “as a specific objective in its own right” among the next United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The text defines a set of cultural rights that need to be taken into account in public policies, ranging from the social and economic rights of artists, to artistic freedom, the right of indigenous communities to safeguard and transmit their ancestral knowledge, and the protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage.
It also calls for substantial regulation of the digital sector, notably of the major platforms, for the benefit of online cultural diversity, artists’ intellectual property rights, and fair access to content for all.
Stepping up the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property
In the Declaration, governments also commit to intensify the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural goods through increased international cooperation. They call on art market operators not to attempt to sell objects whose provenance is not proven.
The emphasis on “unprovenanced” objects calls for the protection of archaeological sites that are vulnerable because they are not listed, and seeks to prevent illegal excavations and looting. The Declaration mandates UNESCO to propose standard-setting instruments to meet these challenges.
On the same subject, Ms Azoulay announced the creation of a virtual museum of stolen cultural property by UNESCO and INTERPOL. It will serve as an educational and pedagogical tool so that citizens can learn about the history of these works, and help people research the provenance of pieces about which they are unsure. The virtual museum will be up and running by 2025.
Rendezvous every four years
Other outcomes of MONDIACULT include the establishment, from 2025 onwards, of a World Forum on Cultural Policies, to be organized by UNESCO every four years. The debates of the Forum will be informed by a World Report on Cultural Policies which the Organization will produce.
Culture as a driver of development
According to UNESCO data, the cultural and creative sector is one of the most powerful engines of development worldwide. It accounts for more than 48 million jobs globally –almost half of which are held by women – representing 6.2% of all existing employment and 3.1% of global GDP. It is also the sector that employs and provides opportunities for the largest number of young people under the age of 30.
MONDIACULT in figures
- 2,600 participants
- 135 Ministers of Culture
- 83 NGOS
- 32 intergovernmental organisations
- 9 UN agencies
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Link to the photo gallery of MONDIACULT
Press contact: Lucia Iglesias Kuntz, l.iglesias@unesco.org, +33 6 80 24 07 29