Strengthen your creative sectors! UNESCO and the European Union launch an international call for expertise and peer-to-peer support

17 Dec 2018

Within the framework of the EU-funded “EU/UNESCO Expert Facility on the Governance of Culture in developing countries”, an international call for applications is launched among governments seeking to strengthen the regulatory frameworks for their cultural and creative industries through expertise and peer-to-peer learning support. The call is launched to support developing countries that have ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005), establish new regulatory frameworks that strengthen the cultural and creative industries and promote South-South cooperation.

The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) have become a key driver of sustainable development. Providing approximately 30 million jobs worldwide and employing more people aged 15-29 than any other sector, the creative sectors generate annual global revenues of US$ 2,250 billion and exports of over US$ 250 billion.

This is why the design and implementation of laws, strategies and measures – regulatory frameworks – are of great significance for CCIs when it comes to ensuring creativity and innovation, intellectual property rights, the diversity of cultural contents and expressions, the mobility of artists, artistic freedom as well as market access.

Drawing on the principles and objectives of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, these frameworks not only need to guarantee and stimulate creativity but also must address the significant and rapid changes posed by digital technologies. Crucially, they must tackle the challenges artists and cultural professionals face in terms of the protection and promotion of their work in a digital environment.

The expertise and peer-to-peer learning support, to be implemented in 2019-2020, will be supported by the EU/UNESCO international Expert Facility.

It will support beneficiary countries, within a timeframe of 18-24 months, to

design, adapt and/or implement regulatory frameworks (laws, strategies, policies and measures) for the CCIs, including intellectual property rights related to CCIs;
strengthen skills and capacities to support long-term cultural policy development and implementation that support the CCIs;
create peer-to-peer mechanisms to strengthen institutional capacities through South-South cooperation activities (best practices exchanges and knowledge transfer).

Applications are to be submitted by Ministries, public institutions and public agencies with regulatory responsibilities on the governance of culture. UNESCO and EU will evaluate the applications on a rolling basis. Twelve (12) countries, or more if budget allows, will benefit from expertise and peer-to-peer learning support. A total of 96 countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention and ODA recipients on the OECD-DAC list (See Annex 1 of the Call for Applications) are eligible. A particular attention will be provided to countries from the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) region.

For any inquiries, please contact the 2005 Convention UNESCO Secretariat at: culture-governance@unesco.org