Artists and creators are vectors of cultural and artistic diversity. Their work is an essential contribution to the development of society and to the forging of social ties between citizens. Their work, which is also intellectual, enables the individual to acquire knowledge and moral well-being.

With this in mind, the Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist, approved by the UNESCO General Conference in 1980, aims to recognize the esteem necessary for providing the socio-economic safeguards to which artists are entitled as people actively engaged in cultural work.

In June 1997, artists and authors from around the world attended the World Congress on the implementation of the Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist. In their Final Declaration, they invited UNESCO to strengthen the dissemination of the 1980 Recommendation by all possible means. They called on the Organization to establish, with the help of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) representing artists, a periodic review mechanism to monitor the progress achieved in the various States and propose new initiatives to implement the Recommendation.

In the framework of this Recommendation, this Observatory has been created to gather all the information sent by UNESCO Member States and NGOs concerning key aspects of the life and work of artists, such as:
• Social Benefits and Taxes
• Allowances and Fellowships
• Networks and Partners
• Copyright and Neighbouring Rights

The activities implemented under the Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist are considered in the framework of UNESCO normative instruments in the field of culture, and in particular of:
• the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005)
• and the Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003).