In West Africa, the cultural sector is facing major challenges, including the need to promote the diversity of cultural expressions and to foster creative industries. In that respect, the UNESCO Dakar Office supports member States through the development of public policy and incentives for the production of locale contents by sub-regional cultural actors and creators.

In response to a request of Member States to pursue its normative action to defend human creativity, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2005. The convention contains measures in favor of the preservation, safeguarding and valorization of the diversity of cultural expressions. Although the text had been widely ratified by the majority of countries covered by the UNESCO Dakar Office, it suffers from a lack of effective implementation due to a shortage of funding and limited knowledge about the Convention. Thus, the Office actions within the sub-regional focuses on reinforcing public policies, which support the cultural sector; as well as on implementing projects fostering artistic freedom, digital creation or focusing on the role of women in the music industry.

Regarding public policies, the UNESCO Dakar Office supports the preparation of quadrennial periodic reports which intent to report on national policies and measures taken by stakeholders to the promote creation, production, dissemination and enjoyment of cultural goods and services. It also intent to report on the international cooperation measures and civil society’s involvement. Hence, capacity-building workshops are frequently organized.

With regard to creative economy – which represents one of the global economy’s fastest growing sectors – UNESCO provided Member States with a political and advocacy tool. The UNESCO Culture for development indicators (CDIS) is an assessment tool to measure culture’s multidimensional role in the development processes through figures and facts. This new construction methodology allowed assessing the economic weight of the cultural and creative sector within countries of the sub-region.

In an effort to highlight and support sub-regional creativity, the UNESCO Dakar Office promotes the work of the cultural sector’s stakeholders, especially women in the music industry, and is involved in improving their working conditions. The Office also endorses the local content support, particularly in the digital era; and takes part in various events in this respect, such as awards ceremonies, panel discussions, as well as local, national or international festivals such as the International Jazz Day.

Eventually, within the sub-region, UNESCO provided support for the establishment of the Category II centre CERAV/Afrique (Regional Centre for the Living Arts in Africa, in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso) and is now cooperating with it. As the first Category II Centre dedicated to the 2005 Convention, the institute aims at becoming an excellence and reference Centre for the Convention’s implementation in the sub-region.