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III ORDINARY MEETING OF THE OEA/Ser.W/XIII.5.4

INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON CULTURE CIDI/CIC/doc.6/07

October 2 - 3, 2007 1 October 2007

Washington, D.C. Original: English

REPORT OF THE CIC CHAIR AND THE TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT

TO THE THIRD REGULAR MEETING OF THE

INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON CULTURE (CIC)


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REPORT OF THE CHAIR 0 F THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON CULTURE

TO THE THIRD REGULAR MEETING OF THE

INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON CULTURE (CIC)

Washington , D.C. , October 2-3, 2007

Introduction

“Culture encompasses many aspects of human, social, and economic development. It is essential for integral development, even beyond its economic, quantifiable dimensions. Moreover, cultural exchanges and dialogue represent invaluable tools for crafting more peaceful and stable societies in an environment of mutual respect.”

- Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin, Assistant Secretary General of the Organizations of American States at the Third Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities, Montreal, 2006

The above quote demonstrates two things. First, that the Organization of American States (OAS) recognizes the importance of culture to the hemisphere, and second, that the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC), in its planning of the Third Meeting of Ministers of Culture, has contributed to that recognition.

It is because culture is directly linked to the promotion of the economic, social, and human development of the peoples of the hemisphere that the CIC is in an excellent position to be a leader in efforts to strengthen cultural policies and programs in the Americas.

This Report of the Chair for the Third Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Committee on Culture will provide highlights of what the Committee has accomplished since its Second Regular Meeting, describe the challenges and opportunities that the CIC faces in meeting its mandate, and will provide an outline of a forward-looking strategic plan that will guide the Committee for the next two years and beyond.

What the CIC Has Accomplished

The Inter-American Committee on Culture was established in 2003 to serve as a forum for dialogue and to promote inter-American cooperation on matters related to culture, following the priorities laid out by leaders at the Summits of the Americas and by OAS Ministers of Culture at their biennial meetings.

Despite the CIC’s relative youth, it has already made great strides in delivering on the path that Ministers of Culture have determined. Through the organization and coordination of inter-American, international, and sub-regional workshops and seminars and the implementation of specific projects tailored to the needs of OAS Member States, the Committee is central to the implementation of the Inter-American vision of cooperation in the area of culture.

In the last two years, the Committee has focused on horizontal cooperation, facilitating the sharing of successful policies, programs and strategies through knowledge-sharing events, and has made effective use of its limited resources in order to do so. The CIC's Technical Secretariat, which is housed in the Department for Education and Culture, has been very successful in maximizing in-kind contributions from other organizations that share common goals.

The CIC has worked to share information with several sectors of the OAS of the importance of culture to the Americas, emphasizing a broad definition of culture that includes creative and artistic activity by individuals and small groups of citizens.

A great deal of the CIC’s progress is largely due to the excellent collaboration between the CIC officials from all Member States. The leadership role of the CIC Vice-Chairs – Brazil, Guatemala, Jamaica and the United States of America – has also been significant and should be commended. Since the Second Regular Meeting held in August 2005, the Committee has worked in the spirit of true cooperation and made significant process in meeting its mandate.

The CIC’s accomplishments in the past two years are many and their outcomes have been recorded in previous reports. This report will note but a few of the numerous highlights, one of which was a CIC-endorsed workshop held in February 2007 in San Salvador, El Salvador where cultural experts from across the Americas shared their experiences and best practices in preventing social violence through arts and culture.

The event noted that communities themselves are offering diverse cultural programming to children, youth, and adults, and they are also documenting – through video and audio recording, the way cultural activities are enriching community life. The results of the workshop in San Salvador clearly demonstrated that cultural programming is effective in encouraging youth to avoid social violence and gang membership. Furthermore, this event demonstrated a clear need for information about cultural programming for at-risk youth in the Americas and in other parts of the world.

Since March 2006, the CIC has participated in the coordination of four events on the topic of Cultural Information Systems. The three regional workshops, held in Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, and Chile respectively, allowed for the sharing of expertise and technical information in the creation of information systems. The fourth event was a Synopsis Meeting held in Colombia in April 2007 that provided an analysis of the results of the regional meetings and allowed participants to coordinate follow up and complementary activities in this area. As a result, the CIC has provided a full spectrum of knowledge sharing activities related to Cultural Information Systems in the Americas.

The International Seminar on Cultural Diversity held in Brasilia in June 2007 and jointly organized by the OAS and the Ministry of Culture of Brazil was a very successful event that showcased the commitment of the Hemisphere to the issue of cultural diversity. The seminar focused on the exchange of successful and transferable public programs for the promotion and protection of cultural diversity. By bringing together cultural diversity experts from the region as well as other parts of the world, the Seminar demonstrated that countries in the Americas see the benefits of cultural diversity and are working to implement policies to both protect and promote it.


It is important to also recognize the success of Third Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities, which was held in Montreal, Canada in November 2006, during which twenty-eight Member States of the OAS participated in the discussions. Representatives from civil society and international organizations also contributed to the dialogue.

The Montreal Ministerial focused on four themes inspired by priorities highlighted by Heads of State at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 2005. The dialogue during the Ministerial was both engaging and productive. Moreover, the Ministerial allowed the CIC to establish its direction and to plan and carry-out activities that not only continue the dialogue on cultural policy that was established by Ministers of Culture, but also formed the beginnings of a strategy that will work to enhance the understanding of culture’s contribution to improving the lives of the peoples of the hemisphere.

The CIC has also seen success in developing and strengthening relationships with other international and regional organizations in the last two years, including the Inter-American Foundation on Culture and Development, the Coordinadora Educativa y Cultural Centroamericana (CECC), the Convenio Andres Bello (CAB), and, in particular, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The success of the international workshop that was jointly organized between the OAS and the IDB is testament to the growing cooperation between our two organizations in the field of culture. The workshop is the beginning of a relationship that will work to ensure that culture becomes an integral part of the hemispheric discussion on economic development and social cohesion.

International financial institutions such as the IDB can assist in building capacity by sharing information with cultural organizations about project proposal development, and cultural organizations can share both their needs and their best practices and lessons learned in order to further the argument of the positive impacts of cultural programming. By increasing their cooperation, financial and cultural communities will be able to ensure that more and more communities across the Americas can benefit from cultural programming and policies.

Challenges and Opportunities

The exceptional diversity of the Americas leads to a situation in which culture is a source of identity, social cohesion, employment and economic growth. The people of the Americas express themselves and their cultures on a daily basis, and, in doing so, are helping to build stronger communities and cohesive societies. The OAS has an important role to play in promoting and strengthening these forms of expression and ensuring that the inter-American dialogue recognizes the link between culture and development.

The CIC has a great story to tell, but also a challenge. Culture has often been viewed through a narrow lens, as something enjoyed by only a small segment of the population, and seen as an expenditure rather than an investment.


This is beginning to change, however, with culture being considered as a key factor in socio-economic development, and as a broader issue that includes virtually every man, woman and child. The role of the CIC is clear – it must continue its work towards promoting culture as a critical component to strategies that encourage economic growth as well as those that promote mutual understanding among diverse individuals and groups, so that the people of the Americas can live and work together productively and peacefully.

We must provide a clear framework for projects and activities that will allow the OAS to contribute to the development of cultural policy in an effective way. To achieve this, the CIC will need a strategic plan that provides focused goals and clear direction. The Committee cannot focus effectively on every issue and topic related to culture in the Americas, but must instead determine where it can provide the most value-added and concentrate its efforts in these areas.

Additionally, the CIC must turn its attention to preparing for upcoming events, including the Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Culture in 2008 and the Fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009. For the Summit in particular, the Committee must find a way to ensure that Member State leaders recognize the benefits of well-developed cultural policies and programs to the region's economic growth and democratic stability.

To achieve this, the CIC will need a strategic plan that provides focused goals and clear direction.

The Way Forward

The Plan of Action for an Enhanced Cultural Cooperation in the Americas (2007-2009) was developed by the Chair of the CIC and the OAS Technical Secretariat with the input of the CIC Authorities. It is a forward-looking document that provides a strategic framework for the CIC to remain central to the implementation of an Inter-American vision of cooperation in the field of culture.

The strategic document considers first and foremost the mandate of the CIC, the results of the Montreal Ministerial and the priorities and commitments of the OAS, including the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Plan of Action is based on the principles of promoting democratic culture and human rights, as well as the importance of integral development to democracy.

The strategy focuses on two broad thematic areas that emerge from the priorities established by Ministers of Culture in Montreal:

1. Building institutional capacity

2. Promoting social inclusion

The first theme focuses on building capacity with a view of promoting economic growth and development through culture. Economic prosperity depends on developing, attracting and mobilizing creativity, and culture is one of the most effective ways to ensure creative communities. Culture can provide economic opportunities that will help to break down barriers of exclusion and poverty.


Promoting the education of arts and culture leads to the development of skills that have a direct payoff in the job market, including in the sectors related to arts, crafts, tourism, heritage conservation and interactive technologies. By developing and mobilizing creativity, we will be able to establish economic strategies that ensure that goods, services and industries are driven by knowledge and diversity.

Stronger cultural industries have a measurable impact on the economies of the Americas, and can help alleviate poverty and close the gap between rich and poor. In supporting stronger cultural industries, nurturing creativity through local programs and supporting the access to new technologies in the Americas, CIC activities can contribute to improving economic growth and promoting social development in the region.

The second theme will focus on activities that use culture as a tool to promote social inclusion, particularly in the area of engaging youth. The OAS has already begun to recognize the importance of engaging youth in the region, with the Permanent Council, through the leadership of Antigua and Barbuda having recently made it a thematic focal point. The CIC is in a position to harness this growing recognition within the Organization in order to promote the culture as a means of promoting social inclusion for youth in the Americas.

The lack of opportunity for youth to participate in society and to contribute to its development, particularly in the Americas, is unfortunately all too common. Inequalities in, and barriers to social, economic and political participation are leading causes of marginalisation and social exclusion.

Due to its crosscutting nature, as well as its ability to help define who we are as individuals and as societies, culture is critical in the design of national and international integration policies and in building social cohesion. Educational programming that includes elements of culture including not only the arts but the languages and beliefs of different cultural groups, can promote understanding of and respect for diversity, finding commonalities, and creating a sense of identity and belonging, especially among young people.

The CIC has previously been involved in projects that use culture to engage with young people to get them involved in creative ways in their communities, extending learning opportunities through cultural experiences. Such projects can have a real and positive impact and, through the Plan of Action, the CIC will continue to support them.

Also included under this theme is the role of indigenous peoples in the Americas, which must be taken into account to ensure that the indigenous populations of the Americas have a voice to articulate their cultures and identities, and are able to feel a sense of belonging to the social and economic activities within their communities.