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OAS and Haiti Sign Agreement for the VI Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture in Haiti

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of Haiti today signed a memorandum of understanding to hold the VI Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities in the Caribbean country on August 12 and 13, during a ceremony that took place at the headquarters of the hemispheric Organization with the participation of the President of Haiti, Michel Martelly.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, thanked the Haitian government for offering to host the ministerial meeting, whose central theme will be “Cultural Interdependence in the Context of Globalization.” Additionally, he said the Ministers of Culture of the Americas will have the opportunity to discuss three major issues: “Cultural entrepreneurship: a tool for innovation and social inclusion; Local development through culture; and Reinforcement of intersectoral linkages: tourism and culture.”

Secretary General Insulza said that, for the hemispheric institution he leads “culture is at the core of its main instruments.” The OAS leader highlighted that the ministerial meeting takes place “only three years after the Inter-American Year of Culture,” which was held in 2011, and recalled that the OAS has been organizing the meetings since 2002.

For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Haiti, Duly Brutus, who signed the memorandum of understanding, said his country is ready “and honored to receive all the Ministers of Culture of the region.”

Foreign Minister Brutus added that the ministerial meeting has a special meaning for President Martelly, being an artist himself. “For the President it is an achievement to host this meeting, because he is an artist who has worked hard to earn respect for Haitian art throughout the world,” said the chief of Haitian diplomacy.

The meeting is part of the main mission of the Office of Culture and Education which is to promote policy dialogue and consensus at the hemispheric level on priority topics of the public policy agenda in the field of culture, within the framework of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development of the OAS.

Also present during the signing of the memorandum of understanding was the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, and representatives of several member states to the OAS, among others.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The B-Roll of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-274/14