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MINISTERIAL MEETING TO EXAMINE CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT

The impact of culture on economic development will be a key issue discussed at the Second Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities, which will take place in Mexico City on August 23 and 24, under the auspices of the Organization of American States (OAS).

“There is a broad consensus in the region that our cultural diversity is not only a source of great social richness, but an important engine of economic growth, employment and development,” said Sofialeticia Morales, Director of the OAS Unit for Social Development and Education. She added that culture is “a tool in the fight against poverty and should be valued, promoted and strengthened.”

Delegates from 34 countries will also examine challenges faced by cultural and creative industries, as well as the role of culture in fostering social cohesion and combating poverty. They will also consider the urgent need to create an Inter-American Cultural Policy Observatory to measure the social and economic impact of culture and establish electronic links among different actors, investigators and decision makers.

The meeting, which is being held within the framework of the OAS Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), will be inaugurated by Mexican President Vicente Fox on Monday at 9 a.m., at the Centro Nacional de las Artes. Participants in the opening ceremony include OAS Secretary General César Gaviria; the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Enrique Iglesias; Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Ernesto Derbez; the Secretary of Public Education, Reyes Tamez; and the President of Mexico’s National Council for Culture and Arts (CONACULTA), Sari Bermúdez.

A group of civil society representatives will have the chance to present ideas and recommendations during an informal meeting with several ministers in Mexico. The representatives were democratically chosen by the 30 participants who attended a civil society workshop held last month in Santiago, Chile.

Through the Summits of the Americas process, the OAS convenes ministerial meetings to ensure that mandates in different sectors are carried out. At the Special Summit of the Americas, held in January in Monterrey, Mexico, the hemisphere’s leaders reaffirmed the importance of cultural diversity in the region.

Sofialeticia Morales, whose area manages cultural issues within the OAS, said the decisions adopted at the ministerial meeting will be implemented by the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC) and will enrich the dialogue at the Fourth Summit of the Americas, scheduled to take place in Argentina in November 2005. She expressed hope that in the long term, all countries of the Americas will recognize the importance of cultural rights, value culture as a key component of anti-poverty programs, and understand the need for trade negotiations to take into account the protection of content and artistic expression that reaffirm cultural diversity.

“One of our biggest challenges is to develop indicators that will show the impact of culture on the economy, and we are all committed to this effort,” Morales said.

Reference: E-131/04