On Tuesday 21 November 2022, the UNESCO Cluster Office in San José accompanied the Centre for Research, Teaching and Extension of the Arts (CIDEA) of the National University of Costa Rica (UNA) at the launch of a project aimed at improving the working conditions of young artists in Costa Rica. It is one of the twelve winning projects of the 2021 call of the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for artists and cultural professionals.
The project seeks to formulate a proposal for the updating of the National Policy on Cultural Rights, which will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Youth for consideration. This proposal will be carried out through a participatory process that will involve young artists and the organized artistic community and will include the definition of indicators to measure decent work, as well as the review of national regulations related to the current promotion of art, formal employment and social protection affecting young artists.
In recent years, UNESCO has accompanied Costa Rica in the formulation or adaptation of its regulatory frameworks to improve the access of arts and culture workers to social protection and to all their labour and economic rights. Strengthening the conditions and improving the livelihoods of artists contributes to enhancing the contributions of culture to the fulfilment of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The launch of the project was hosted by the cultural centre Rainbow House (Casa del Arcoíris) en San José in the presence of Ms Vera Vargas, Vice-Minister of Culture of Costa Rica, Mr Alexander Leicht, UNESCO Representative in Costa Rica, Mr José Pablo Solís, Dean of CIDEA, student representatives and young students from various artistic disciplines. The launching ceremony of this project was accompanied by dance and music performances by young artists.
This event was also the occasion to present to the public the results of the study 'Informal employment and decent work in the music sector in Costa Rica: moving towards formality', carried out in 2021 by UNESCO in the framework of the "FFWD Music" project, as part of the technical assistance of the UNESCO/European Union cooperation programme for cultural governance and South-South cooperation. This report provides valuable data to address the high rate of informal work in the creative sectors in Costa Rica.
The UNESCO-Aschberg Programme seeks to support creativity and artistic diversity around the world through the implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist. The Programme provides technical assistance, tools, and capacities for the formulation of public policies that foster enabling environments for creativity. The assistance of this programme is of special relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can watch the webcast of the event here
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