World Conference on Cultural Policies in Mexico City, known as MONDIACULT, whose main achievements consist in the broadening of the notion of culture as ‘the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group. It includes not only the arts and literature, lifestyles, fundamental rights of human beings, value systems, traditions and beliefs’
UNESCO, the United Nations agency with a cultural mandate, launches the World Decade for Cultural Development which advocates the contribution of culture to national and international development policies. This led to the establishment of international standard-setting instruments and demonstration tools
The Report of the United Nations/UNESCO World Commission on Culture and Development (‘Our Creative Diversity’) , a landmark in setting new goals for international cooperation and bringing in culture from the margins. It advances the view that development embraces not only access to goods and services, but also the opportunities given to people everywhere to choose a full, satisfying valuable and valued life. Its International Agenda was set up to transform conventional development strategies
Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, Stockholm: establishes a new global cultural policy agenda for development to be established through international cooperation mechanisms as well as national policy initiatives in partnership with civil society as key actors to implement this new agenda
UNESCO-World Bank Intergovernmental conference ‘Culture Counts: Financing, Resources and the Economics of Culture in Sustainable Development’, held in Florence, acknowledges the cultural capital as being crucial to progress in achieving sustainable development and economic growth
UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity takes forward the policy agenda set by the Stockholm Action Plan and secures global consensus through the unanimous adoption of a Declaration and concrete strategies to integrate culture into development policies and programmes
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, promotes international cooperation to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, constantly recreated by communities in response to their environment, and recognized as a mainspring of cultural diversity and a guarantee of sustainable development (Preamble); its scope is limited only to such heritage as is compatible with the requirements of sustainable development (Art. 2)
UNDP’s ‘Human Development Report Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World’ underscores how diverse and unequal the world has become. It offers the view that poverty, in its many forms, is often linked with issues of access to opportunities and knowledge that have particular impact on minority social, ethnic and religious groups. It makes the case for adopting multicultural policies respecting diversity and building more inclusive societies
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, recognizes culture as a pillar of sustainable development (Art. 13) and creates the legal framework and operational mechanisms to foster the emergence of dynamic cultural sectors in developing countries through international cooperation for development (Art. 14, 18)
The 2005 World Summit Outcome, adopted by the UN General Assembly, acknowledges the diversity of the world and recognizes that all cultures contributes to the enrichment of humankind (para. 14)
The ‘Culture and Development’ Thematic Window of the MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F) is a ground breaking experimental investment in large scale culture and development projects supporting country-based culture and development programmes for a total amount of 95 million USD
The MDG Outcome of the Millennium Summit adopted by the UN General Assembly, explicitly recognises the contribution of culture to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to development (para. 16 and 66)
For the first time, a Resolution of the UN General Assembly on Culture and Development (Res. 65/166) emphasizes the role of culture in sustainable development and in the achievement of national and international development goals, including the MDGs
The UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 66/208 on Culture and Development thus reaffirming that culture is an important factor of social inclusion and poverty eradication, providing for economic growth and ownership of development processes