International Network for Cultural Diversity Celebrates UNESCO Victory

Ottawa, Octo­ber 20, 2005 – The Inter­na­tional Net­work for Cul­tural Diver­sity con­grat­u­lated UNESCO
and its mem­ber States for today approv­ing the Con­ven­tion on the pro­tec­tion and pro­mo­tion of the
diver­sity of cul­tural expres­sions. The INCD and its mem­ber orga­ni­za­tions from every cor­ner of the
globe cel­e­brated the over­whelm­ing pos­i­tive sup­port, as 148 coun­tries voted in favour of the final text.
This new legal instru­ment rec­og­nizes the value of cul­tural diver­sity to national and global well being
and acknowl­edges that cul­tural goods and ser­vices have more than an eco­nomic value. But, the
Con­ven­tion is only one step in a long cam­paign to achieve cul­tural diver­sity, and to pre­vent trade and
invest­ment agree­ments from fur­ther erod­ing the right of States to sup­port their own artists and cul­tural
pro­duc­ers.
“The strong sup­port for the Con­ven­tion is a water­shed moment in the his­tory of the cul­tural diver­sity
move­ment,” said Garry Neil, INCD Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, “and we are proud of the role INCD and oth­ers
civil soci­ety groups played in reach­ing this moment. But, there is much more to do. Civil soci­ety will
con­tinue to play an active part in the next phase of the work and we call today on all States who voted in
favour to rat­ify the Con­ven­tion, to make it as effec­tive as pos­si­ble, and to com­mit to sup­port­ing cul­tural
diver­sity both within their own ter­ri­to­ries and glob­ally.“
INCD urged gov­ern­ments to work with each other, with civil soci­ety, inter­gov­ern­men­tal insti­tu­tions and
their own artists and cul­tural pro­duc­ers to achieve the real promise of the Con­ven­tion. “After all, we
need to col­lab­o­rate against the con­tin­u­ing pres­sure from those who want trade in cul­tural goods and
ser­vices to be cov­ered fully under the World Trade Orga­ni­za­tion and regional and bilat­eral trade treaties.
We also need to ensure that devel­op­ing coun­tries have the resources they need to bring their sto­ries,
music and other artis­tic works to local and global audi­ences.“
INCD urged gov­ern­ments to include pro­vi­sions of the new Con­ven­tion into their bilat­eral and
mul­ti­lat­eral cul­tural agree­ments. “The Con­ven­tion only estab­lishes min­i­mum stan­dards, and we want
the richer coun­tries of the north to make spe­cific and con­crete com­mit­ments to coun­tries of the south to
help them develop cre­ative indus­tries and cul­tural capac­ity. We also want the richer coun­tries to open
their mar­kets to artis­tic works from coun­tries of the south,” con­tin­ued Mr. Neil.
INCD urged the world’s cul­ture min­is­ters, orga­nized in the Inter­na­tional Net­work on Cul­tural Pol­icy, to
renew their com­mit­ment to this work. Cul­ture is sig­nif­i­cant in all dimen­sions of gov­er­nance, includ­ing
trade, secu­rity, devel­op­ment and human rights, and this is only begin­ning to be under­stood. The INCP
must strengthen its resolve to con­tinue, must build its mem­ber­ship and pre­pare for the next round of
cul­tural diver­sity work in UNESCO, as well as the impor­tant upcom­ing work with finance and trade
min­is­ters, and heads of gov­ern­ment.
Since 2000, the INCD has been in the fore­front of the cam­paign to advo­cate for a legally bind­ing
con­ven­tion on cul­tural diver­sity to halt the grow­ing pres­sure on cul­tural poli­cies caused by the
mul­ti­lat­eral and bilat­eral trade agree­ments. Its mem­ber­ship includes more than 400 non-governmental
cul­tural orga­ni­za­tions in 71 coun­tries.
Canada was a leader in the for­ma­tion of both the INCP and the INCD, and the Cana­dian Con­fer­ence of
the Arts has served as the home of the INCD since its incep­tion. The CCA is proud of what Canada, the
INCP, the INCD, and above all, what UNESCO have achieved in the long strug­gle to win inter­na­tional
approval of the Con­ven­tion on the pro­tec­tion and pro­mo­tion of the diver­sity of cul­tural expressions.