In compliance with Article 9 of the 2005 Convention, Cuba submits its Second Periodic Report, which contains the measures adopted during the 2012-2016 quadrennial.
In its elaboration, the essential role culture is to play in the process of updating the Cuban economic model was taken into account.
For the full preparation of this Second Periodic Report, with the support of the UNESCO Regional Office and for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Cuban National Commission for UNESCO, and as part of the Capacity-building on Periodic Reporting project, the Ministry of Culture of Cuba invited governmental and civil society actors to participate in the preparation of the Report, informing them of its importance and characteristics.
A multisectoral consultation followed, with the presence of numerous governmental and civil society agencies, for which two international facilitators from the Pool of Experts on the Convention were selected, who accompanied the entire process of elaborating the Report.
The Ministry of Culture then convened the governmental institutions and civil society organisations in the field of culture, which were given by Deputy Minister Fernando Rojas ample information on the work that would require their contribution and cooperation.
The National Team was formed, which continued to receive the contributions of governmental and civil society institutions, and an initial three-day capacity-building workshop was conducted on data collection, the definition of indicators and, in general, the elaboration of the Report.
A technical meeting was then organised, with the participation of governmental and civil society institutions, headed by the UNESCO Office, where attendees were oriented and trained on the use of a “practical” Data-collection methodology specifically designed by an International Consultant in collaboration with International Experts.
A second meeting of the National Team followed, conceived as a workshop basically dedicated to the elaboration of the first draft of the Second Quadrennial Report to be submitted by Cuba.
Once the document was approved by the Board of the Ministry of Culture, a public presentation was made to all governmental and civil society institutions participating in its preparation, an activity which became a great and multi-faceted opportunity to celebrate the submission of the Report to UNESCO and to design the work strategies that would follow the recommendations made in the Report on the need to increase efforts to provide capacity-building activities for officials, civil society and the private sector, and particularly, the provincial governments and municipal administrations, aimed at enhancing their knowledge of the Convention.
Of special importance are the relations with organisations of writers and artists, such as the Union of Writers and Artists and the Hermanos Saiz Association of young artists, which group over 12,000 creators and systematically make a critical appraisal of cultural policies. Writers and artists work as professors in arts schools and are involved in 317 community projects. During this period, writers and artists, together with technicians in the field of culture –19,942 of whom are art instructors– have participated in animated discussions on the economic model being designed in the country, making substantial contributions concerning the organisation of cultural life, which have always been centred on the protection of its divers