13 developing countries take action to strengthen their cultural policies and industries
UNESCO technical assistance missions funded by the European Union completed in Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Seychelles; on-going in Barbados, Burkina Faso, Honduras, Mauritius and Viet Nam; and soon to be carried out in Cambodia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi and Niger.
Technical assistance missions in the field of cultural policy and cultural industries are carried out by recognised international experts who were selected as part of this programme and who form the core of an Expert Facility. These missions provide beneficiary countries with high-level expertise to assist them in ongoing efforts to strengthen human and institutional capacities to develop policies that support the emergence of dynamic cultural and creative industries. Interventions are designed through a series of national and/or local consultations and validation processes so that each mission fully corresponds to the needs and priorities of the beneficiary countries.
The technical assistance focuses on a range of policy areas:
- policy development and implementation: D.R. Congo, Haiti, Malawi and the Seychelles
- fostering cultural industries: Cambodia, Mauritius and Viet Nam
- reinforcing cultural entrepreneurship: Barbados, Honduras, Kenya and Niger
- sectoral analysis and strategic recommendations: Buenos Aires and Burkina Faso
UNESCO is partnering for the first time with the European Union to reinforce the governance of culture in developing countries. This programme implements the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions at national and local levels, in developing countries that are both Parties to this UNESCO Convention and are eligible beneficiary countries under the European Union thematic programme “Investing in People”. This technical assistance programme demonstrates the importance given by both UNESCO and the European Union to implement concrete activities that promote culture as a key factor of sustainable development.
Find out more about the technical assistance missions on the programme’s website: www.unesco.org/culture/en/culturegov