Parties to UNESCO 2005 Convention promote resilient cultural and creative sector
The 8th Conference of Parties to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, ratified by 150 countries and the European Union, was held online from 1 – 4 June 2021 under the chairmanship of Her Excellency Ms. Claudia Reinprecht, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Austria to UNESCO.
The Conference stressed the need for further action to support the creative sector in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
“The cultural and creative sector, as a whole, has shown resilience, but many studies show that the pandemic has been a huge setback to its development and growth. Today’s decisions and actions will thus be key to bringing it back up to speed,” stated Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture. “The pandemic has accelerated and reinforced the digitalization of much of the cultural value chain. Yet artists and creators rarely receive fair remuneration for our clicks and views. We must work together and renew our efforts to ensure a fair digital transformation for the creative sector,” he added.
During this session, the Conference of Parties examined the state of implementation of the 2005 Convention around the world by reviewing 83 quadrennial periodic reports submitted by Parties in 2019 and 2020. Parties also had the opportunity to discuss major issues that have been brought to the forefront by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the status of artists and cultural professionals, the protection of the diversity of cultural expressions in the digital environment and preferential treatment for cultural goods and services. Recognizing the unprecedented challenges facing the cultural and creative sectors in the wake of COVID-19, Parties identified clear priorities to guide the future activities of the 2005 Convention’s Intergovernmental Committee in 2022-2023, which include broadening the range of stakeholders involved in the governance of the Convention, ensuring the effective implementation of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD), and supporting the sound implementation of the Convention’s global capacity-building programme. Devoting particular attention to the implementation of preferential treatment measures for developing countries was also recognized as being of key importance.
Several side events also took place during this session to contextualize the Parties’ discussions. On 2 June, the preliminary results of UNESCO’s study on the film and audio-visual industry in Africa were presented. The study, titled “Focus on the cinema industry in Africa: structural reforms and digital transitions for diversity”, will be launched in September 2021.
The launch of UNESCO’s Special Edition report “Gender & Creativity: Progress on the Precipice" on 4 June also brought together leading academics and cultural professionals, including a special video message from Naomi Kawase, Japanese filmmaker; Bridget Conor, researcher and professor at King’s College; Luis Alberto Quevedos, Director of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO); Deeya Khan, filmmaker and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Artistic Freedom; Esi Atiase, digital artist and member of the Resilientes movement and Nia Dinata, (Indonesia), award-winning director and producer, to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of gender equality in the cultural sector. “Gender must be mainstreamed into COVID-19 recovery efforts for the cultural sector. Seeing gender equality as an interlocking issue for the overall wellbeing of the cultural sector is absolutely crucial,” highlighted Bridget Conor.
The Conference concluded with the election of 12 new members to the Intergovernmental Committee: Bangladesh, Burundi, Cuba, France, Georgia, Jamaica, Madagascar, Norway, Palestine, Serbia, Viet Nam and United Arab Emirates. During the closing of the Conference, Ernesto Ottone R. also announced the launch of the call for nominations for the first edition of the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for Creative Economy as well as the upcoming virtual reality exhibition “Cubically Imagined,” organized by UNESCO in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, to be held from 6 to 16 July 2021 at UNESCO HQ in Paris.
The Conference was preceded by the third edition of the Civil Society Forum, which brought together more than 90 organizations from 53 countries.
The 9th session of the Conference of Parties will take place in June 2023.