Enhancing inter-ministerial cooperation for the cultural governance in Chile
Chile is embarking upon the elaboration of its third quadrennial periodic report to review its cultural policies and measures promoting and protecting the diversity of cultural expressions.
As part of this effort, a workshop to enhance skills for policy monitoring was held from 28 to 29 November 2019.
The workshop was facilitated by Alfonso Castellanos Ribot, member of the UNESCO Expert Facility. More than 40 people including public officials from relevant ministries including Ministry of Culture, universities and civil society organisations such as the Board of Directors of the Chilean Coalition for Cultural Diversity attended the session.
The workshop focused specifically on the 2005 Convention in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. The presentations on the 2005 Convention’s monitoring framework, monitoring mechanism such as the Policy Monitoring Platform, and the UNESCO flagship reports on creative industries Global Report raised awareness about tools that are readily available for cultural policymakers. Participants learned the process of elaboration of the quadrennial periodic report and how to fill in the newly updated form and how to consult with civil society organisations.
The spirit of cooperation was evident during the meeting. A first set of innovative Chilean policies and measures to be included in the country’s periodic report was identified by a team of representatives from the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development and Family, and the National Television Council. Contributions were also received from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the National Television.
Dedication and contributions by regional institutions to the implementation of the 2005 Convention was also noted. On the occasion of the “Second National Conference of Regional Ministerial Secretaries of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage” which took place in Santiago on 26 November 2019, a presentation on the 2005 Convention’s scope and objectives contributed to raise awareness amongst the Minister’s regional authorities in the culture sector.
The workshop served as an occasion for participants to meet and share information on various cultural work that takes place across Chile. Participants valued the opportunity to build a more robust inter-ministerial cooperation around the common objectives of the 2005 Convention and the governance of culture. The next steps for Chile will be to convene a national team tasked with elaborating and drafting the periodic report for its submission in April 2020.