Georgia ratified the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2008. The Quadrennial Periodic Report (2012-2015) has been prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia in cooperation with the Georgian National Commission for UNESCO (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), state agencies and civil society organizations. The report provides information on key policy documents drafted/ adopted by the Government of Georgia during the reporting period that respond provisions of the Convention. Among them should be noted the “Concept of Cultural Policy of Georgia” drafted by the team of experts representing civil society organisations in 2013, “Culture Strategy 2025”, drafted by the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia (MoC); preparatory study for “Creative Georgia State Programe” that will be laucned in 2016; the “Georgian National Youth Policy” (2014); “Civic Equality and Integration strategy 2015-2020” (2015); The National Policy for Cultural Heritage (2014); the “Innovation Strategy” ( 2015) supporting creative industries among others. Also, Culture has been integrated into the “Tourism Strategy of Georgia” (2015) and the “Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination” (2014) was adopted by the Georgian Parliament promoting gender equality among others.
MoC has prioritized and funded programs supporting intercultural dialogue and promoting involvement of vulnerable groups of population into cultural life of Georgia. Cultural relations between the Georgian cultural sector and its counterparts in the EU have intensified especially after the EU Association Agreement in 2014. In 2015 Georgia joined the Creative Europe program; several cultural projects and researches have been supported by Council of Europe, EU ENP and Eastern Partnership Culture Programmes. 30 bilateral agreements on cooperation in the fields of culture have been signed; The Government of Georgia introduced film industry incentive scheme "Film in Georgia", which envisages 20-25% cash rebate on qualified expenses incurred in Georgia for international and local production companies. MoC supported the National Center of Manuscripts as well as the Georgian National Museum in digitalization of their collections.
There are still some policy challenges concerning integration of culture in the sustainable development policy, digital creativity, supporting cultural industry markets (including digital), system of cultural statistics, regional and international flows of cultural goods and services, promoting the social and economic rights of artists, as well as measures focused on the role of media in creation, production and distribution of culture, sustainability of cooperation with civil society, legislation promoting universal access to the internet, and also instruments for monitoring and evaluation of the policy impact.
There is also a need for capacity building of national actors responsible for the implementation of the Convention and reporting as well for developing cooperation between government bodies and dialogue with civil society on Convention implementation. The role of the diversity of cultural expressions should also be strengthened within the Georgia and EU cooperation framework programes. Awareness of the Convention aims, visibility of its implementation process should be better promoted and more partners should be involved in the process.