Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

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List of countries which have ratified the Convention
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The UNESCO Convention on the diversity of cultural expressions entered into force on March 18, 2007. To date, the Convention has been ratified by 93 member States of UNESCO.

The Convention aims to:

• Reaffirm the sovereign rights of States to maintain, adopt and implement policies and measures that they deem appropriate for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions on their territory, while ensuring the free flow of ideas and works.
• Give recognition to the distinctive nature of cultural activities, goods and services as vehicles of identity, values and meaning.
• Redefine new modalities for the international cooperation, keystone of the Convention.
• Create conditions for cultures to flourish and to interact freely in a mutually beneficial manner.
• Give a main part to the civil society in the implementation of the Convention.

States that ratify the Convention undertake to:

• Endeavour to promote in their territory the creation of an environment which encourages individuals and social groups to create, produce, disseminate, distribute, and have access to their cultural expressions, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to have access to diverse cultural expressions within their territory and from other countries of the world;
• Acknowledge the fundamental role of civil society in protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions by encouraging the active participation of civil society in efforts by Parties to achieve the objectives of the Convention (Article 11).
• Respect their commitment and act accordingly in the signing of any new agreement on free trade (Articles 20 and 21)
• Ensure information sharing and transparency by providing appropriate information in their reports to UNESCO on measures taken to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions;
• Foster the public’s understanding of the importance of the diversity of cultural expressions through educational and public-awareness programmes.
• Incorporate culture into sustainable development and strengthen international cooperation in support of developing countries by several means, for instance, by strengthening their cultural industries, building their capacities to develop and implement cultural policies, technology transfer, financial support and preferential treatment for their artists and other cultural professionals and for their cultural goods and services.

Follow-up bodies of the Convention

• The Conference of Parties is made up of signatory States and serves as the plenary and supreme body of the Convention. Party States are convened to meet in ordinary session every two years. Following the Convention’s entry into force on March 18, 2007, the first session of the Conference of Parties was held in Paris in June 2007. This Conference established the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention composed of 24 elected delegates. The next Conference will take place in March 2009.
• The Intergovernmental Committee is responsible for promoting the objectives of the Convention and encouraging and monitoring its implementation in a spirit of transparency and vigilance. In December 2007, the Committee’s first meeting was held in Ottawa, signalling the official launch of implementation of the Convention. Two of the key objectives were to foster international cooperation in support of developing countries and to involve civil society in the implementation of the Convention.

The Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is officially in force. It is now up to each of us to ensure that it survives and flourishes.