Ramallah, 3 October 2019 – UNESCO and the Palestinian Ministry of Culture officially launched the project “Mapping the Culture Sector in Palestine / Statistics in Culture for Development”, within the framework of UNESCO's continuous support in the effective implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, ratified by Palestine in 2011.
The outcomes of this project shall feed into another UNESCO project that will be carried out simultaneously, entitled "Re|Shaping Cultural Policies for the Promotion of Fundamental Freedoms and the Diversity of Cultural Expressions". This project will be implemented in 12 countries, including Palestine. Both projects are jointly funded by UNESCO, the Government of Sweden, through Sida and the Drosos Foundation.
In his welcoming remarks, the Minister of Culture, H.E. Atef Abu Saif, expressed his gratitude to UNESCO for starting and supporting these two pioneering initiatives, emphasizing that it is our shared responsibility to design appropriate cultural policies that shall enhance the cultural sector and put it in the forefront.
Mr. Junaid Sorosh-Wali, Officer-in-Charge and Head of Culture Unit of UNESCO Ramallah Office stressed on the role UNESCO is playing in supporting the Palestinian Government, and assured that the outcomes of the two projects shall effectively and efficiently suport the culture sectors at the national level in Palestine, based on evidences/statistics and identified needs. He also empasized that the results of these projects will be published by June 2020 in global reports designed to monitor the implementation of the 2005 Convention, inform policy making and advance creativity for development to attain the 2030 Susutanable Development Goals.
The meeting was attended by representatives from relevant governmental bodies in addition to non-governmental organizations and the private sector. The participants praised the project and emphasized its importance in the Palestinian context, referring to the different components and segments that might be taken into consideration along the lifespan of the projects.
The statistics project will assess the impact of the culture sector on seven dimensions, namely the economy, education, governance, social participation, gender equality and communication dimensions. It will specifically focus on assessing the impact of culture on the Palestinian economic growth and social development to better inform the design of comprehensive cultural policies for effective and efficient support to the culture sector at the national level in Palestine.
For more information on UNESCO’s activities in Palestine, please visit our Facebook page : UNESCO National Office Ramallah Office
For more information on this project, please contact: Junaid Sorosh-Wali, Officer-in-Charge and Head of the UNESCO Ramallah Office, at j.sorosh@unesco.org