Article 280 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador states that "The National Development Plan is the instrument to which public policies, programs and projects are subject to, as well as the programming and execution of the State budget; and the investment and allocation of resources. It will also coordinate the exclusive competences between the central state and decentralized autonomous governments. Its observance shall be mandatory for the public sector and indicative for the other sectors."
It was for this reason that from the 2009-2013 National Plan for Good Living, aspects related to cultural diversity were included. Objective 7 of such Plan (Building and strengthening public, intercultural and common meeting spaces), established in policy 7.4 (Democratizing the offer and diverse cultural expressions, ensuring free circulation, recognition and respect for the multiple social identities), as Goal 7.4.1, "Increasing by 40% the weekly time devoted to culture until 2013."
In the 2013-2017 National Plan for Good Living, objective 5 (Building spaces for common encounter and strengthening national identity, diverse identities, plurinationality and interculturality) established two policies: 5.3. Promoting the processes of cultural creation in all its forms, languages and expressions, both of individuals and of diverse communities; and 5.4. Promoting industries and cultural and creative enterprises, as well as their contribution to the transformation of the productive matrix. The goals were focused on increasing audiovisual production (5.4), its circulation in national theatres (5.5), and reversing citizen participation numbers in cultural activities that, according to the diagnosis, had decreased (5.2).
Objective 2 of the 2017-2021 National Development Plan (Asserting interculturality and plurinationality, by revaluing diverse identities), establishes the following two goals for the cultural field:
* Goal 2.3.: Increasing the percentage of people aged 15 and older who engage in cultural activities from 3.9 per cent to 5 per cent by 2021
* Goal 2.4.: Increasing the contribution of cultural activities to gross domestic product from 2.4% to 3.5 by 2021.
Seen from this perspective, the Development Plans have outlined cultural policies that went from guaranteeing cultural rights and their symbolic-productive components to emphasizing economic and productive aspects of the cultural field.
In terms of employment, the indicator has evolved as follows:
YEAR 2016 2017 2018 2019
Appropriate cultural employment 3.88% 4.22% 4,17% 4.43%
Preparation: Information Directorate of the National Culture System
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Censuses
This indicates that Goal 2.3 would, in deed, be achieved.
The second goal is currently under evaluation. The Central Bank of Ecuador is changing the base year for the calculation of National Accounts. The results will be published in 2021.
| Name of partner | Type of entity |
|---|---|
Central Bank of Ecuador
| Public Sector
|
Technical Secretariat Plans Ecuador
| Public Sector
|
With regard to cultural GDP, it should be noted that the methodology for calculating the Culture Satellite Account by the Central Bank of Ecuador has only been validated since 2016. For that year, cultural activities contributed with 1.93% of Ecuador's GDP. However, there is a 2-year delay in the publication of final information by the Central Bank, so estimates have been made with provisional data. In mid-2019, the Central Bank of Ecuador announced several methodological changes in national accounts and base year calculations. In this regard, the Information Directorate of the National Culture System will also change its methodology for calculating the Culture Satellite Account.