By encouraging diversity and contemporary creation, UNESCO endeavours to ensure that all cultures – with due respect for their equal dignity -- benefit from the development opportunities opened up by creative industries through strengthening local markets and providing better access to international markets, particularly by means of North-South and South-South cooperation.
In the field of creative industries such as crafts, design, publishing, cinema and music, expert support is provided to collaboration between public and private actors, to training activities and to fairs, festivals and shows with a regional and sub-regional scope in the countries of the South. Support is also provided to reinforce the cooperation within the international Creative Cities Network and to promote linguistic diversity, particularly through translation, as well as copyright issues as regards authors and creators. Finally the promotion of Arts Education, which leads to a new World Conference in 2010, is also at the heart of these activities.
To deal effectively with governmental authorities and members of civil society alike, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted in 2005, and partnerships are established in the framework of the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity.