Coalition Currents

Cultural Organization Leaders from 50 Countries
Confirmed for Madrid Meeting

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega , Vice-President of the Government of Spain, will officially open the Fourth International Meeting of Cultural Professional Organizations, which will take place in Madrid , Spain , May 9 to 11.

Vice President Fernandez will address 200 leaders of key cultural organizations from more than 50 countries, who will then embark on three days of intense discussion focused on the campaign now underway at UNESCO to secure an international convention on the protection of the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions.

The Madrid Meeting will also feature contributions from three of the world’s foremost acknowledged experts on the UNESCO Convention: Ivan Bernier, Jean Musitelli and Hélène Ruiz-Fabri.

It will also include a first-hand assessment of the intergovernmental negotiations from governmental representatives directly involved in the UNESCO talks. Canadian Ambassador to UNESCO Yvon Charbonneau , India ’s Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee, and European Union negotiator Xavier Troussard have confirmed their participation on this panel.

In addition, Alejandro Jara, Chile ’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Chair of the WTO’s council for trade in services special session, will headline a panel discussion focusing on the implications of current trade negotiations for the cultural sector.

The Madrid Meeting is being held at a decisive moment in the UNESCO negotiations. Just two weeks later, on May 25, a third and likely final intergovernmental negotiations session will get underway in Paris . Crucial decisions regarding the content of the convention must be made in the course of these negotiations if the convention is to be proposed for adoption at this October’s 33 rd General Conference.

The starting point for the May negotiations will be a new consolidated draft text that was released by UNESCO’s Director General on April 21. The Madrid Meeting will provide participants with an in-depth analysis of this latest text—and the key issues still to be resolved in the negotiations. The focus will be on practical information and mobilization strategies that participants can use in their discussions with their governments at home.

Participants attending this meetings will acquire the information they need in order to engage the leaders of their government in discussions to ensure they support a strong, truly effective convention that will fill a void in international law by affirming the sovereign right of countries to have cultural policies designed to ensure genuine cultural diversity both at the national and international level.

Opening ceremonies will be held at the Madrid Congress Centre, with all panel sessions then taking place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located in the heart of the city, just moments away from such landmarks as the Prado Museum , the Plaza Mayor, and the Royal Palace .

The declaration adopted at the conclusion of the Madrid Meeting will immediately be sent to all UNESCO national delegations, to ministers of Culture and ministers of foreign affairs, and to the chiefs of state and government of UNESCO’s 191 member states.

The declaration will also be delivered one month later to a major international meeting of culture ministers that Spanish Minister of Culture Carmen Calvo will host on June 11-12 in Madrid to rally support for the UNESCO Convention campaign.

Detailed program information can be found at the official website for the Fourth Meeting: http://www.coalicionedc.org./index2.htm.

Registration for the meeting will be capped at 200 participants. For this reason, interested participants are urged to contact the Spanish Coalition for Cultural Diversity by email as soon as possible: coalicion1@empresarialeuropea.com.

The Madrid Meeting is being organized by Spain ’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity—which was established last November by the three founding member organizations the Federation of Spanish Actors, the Spanish Producers Association FAPAE, and SGAE, the Spanish Society of Authors Composers and Publishers.

The Meeting is being organized with the participation of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC), which brings together 23 national coalitions representing some 400 cultural organizations.

The meeting is made possible by the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and the Spanish Society of Authors Composers and Publishers(SGAE).

Simultaneous translation will be provided in English, French and Spanish for all sessions.

New UNESCO Convention Draft Released:
A Tale of Two Texts?

A new draft of UNESCO’s proposed convention on the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions was released on April 21—just over a month out from the expected start date of May 25 for the third intergovernmental negotiations session.

The text released by UNESCO Director General Koїchiro Matsuura is in fact two texts. Appendix 1 is the ‘composite text’ released on March 3, which integrated the work of the plenary debates and drafting sessions during the February intergovernmental negotiations. Appendix 2 is a text prepared by the Kader Asmal, Chair of the intergovernmental negotiations, in line with a mandate he was accorded at the conclusion of the February negotiations to prepare a “consolidated text consisting of the draft provisions recommended by the Drafting Committee together with proposals by the Chairperson himself based on the specific directives of the plenary.”

Asmal completed the consolidated text following a three-day drafting session in Cape Town, South Africa, working with Mounir Bouchenaki, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Culture, Katerina Stenou, Director of the Division of Cultural Policies and Inter-Cultural Dialogue, Jukka Liede of Finland, the Chair of the Drafting Committee, and Artur Wilczynski of Canada, the Rapporteur for the convention negotiations.

How negotiations departing from two texts will work out in practice remains to be seen, but in his covering note the Director General states that the texts “are complementary and should be read together. They should be regarded as a working draft enabling Member States to pursue their deliberations.”

TOP

Spain to Host Major International Meeting of Culture Ministers on UNESCO Convention in June

Up to 50 ministers of culture are expected to gather in Madrid on June 11 and 12 to reaffirm their support for the UNESCO process to adopt a convention on the protection of the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions at its 33 rd General Conference this October.

Plans for the meeting were announced jointly on March 21 by Spain ’s Minister of Culture Carmen Calvo, Gilberto Gil of Brazil and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres of France .

The meeting will be held one week after UNESCO’s third intergovernmental negotiations sessions is expected to wrap on June 4, and one month after the conclusion of the Fourth International Meeting of Cultural Professional Organizations in Madrid .

The fact that Spain is hosting two such major meetings at this critical moment in the UNESCO process highlights their resolve to take a leadership role in championing the campaign underway at UNESCO.

In a joint communiqué, Ministers Calvo, Gil and Donnedieu de Vabres stated that they consider the proposed convention to be an essential intrument for assuring the development of all cultures in the world while making the circulation of cultural goods and services compatible with the need to preserve cultural identities.

The three ministers identified the following elements as essential to the convention:

The recognition of the specificity and the dual nature of cultural goods and services which are both essential vectors for the distribution of works of art and the human spirit as well as having a commercial dimension.
The sovereign right of States to adopt measures for the protection and the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.
The fundamental role of cultural identity in supporting sustainable development, notably in developing countries.
The necessity of according the Convention an appropriate and legitimate position within the international legal system, which implies that it must not be subordinated to any other international legal instrument.
Respect in the provisions of the Convention for all applicable international agreements on human rights.
The recognition of cultural diversity as a contributor to dialogue and mutual recognition and as a cornerstone of the establishment of an alliance between civilizations.

TOP

New Coalitions in Cameroon , Congo bring total to 23

The Third International Meeting of Cultural Professional Organizations held in Seoul , Korea , in June of last year is proving to have been a watershed moment in mobilizing organizations representing artists and other cultural professionals in support of the campaign for an international convention on the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions at UNESCO.

Less than a year after the Seoul meeting, the number of national coalitions for cultural diversity has more than doubled, from 11 to 23, with the latest coalitions being established in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo during the month of March.

On March 18, Joe Mboule, president of Cameroon ’s performing artists union, advised the Secretariat of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions of the creation of his country’s new coalition:

“I am pleased to inform you that Cameroon ’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity was established in a general assembly held at Douala on the 15 March. Statutes for the Coalition were adopted and an executive bureau was established.

The members of the assembly selected me to be president of the Coalition for a three-year mandate,” he concluded, advising that the Coalition’s file would be registered with the Prefecture of Wouri on March 21.

On April 12, the ILC Secretariat was advised of the establishment of a Coalition for Cultural Diversity in the Republic of Congo . Jeany Ibela-Ibel, President of the Congolese artists’ union, has been elected President, joined on the Coalition’s bureau by 11 other leading figures from the country’s cultural milieu: Hugues Ondaye, Clesh Anyta Ngapi, August Fall Mpazou, Patrick Mpika Azano, Patrice Passi, Adam Opou, Paul Domesto Lendogo, Marixe Xavier François Ganga, Benga Pascal Zoutani, Charles Bouetoumoussa, and André Oka-Mbendza.

TOP

	Print version			Français\| Español

				Highlights:
	Vol. 3, No. 4, April 2005 Cultural Organization Leaders from 50 Countries Confirmed for Madrid Meeting María Teresa Fernández de la Vega , Vice-President of the Government of Spain, will officially open the Fourth International Meeting of Cultural Professional Organizations, which will take place in Madrid , Spain , May 9 to 11. Vice President Fernandez will address 200 leaders of key cultural organizations from more than 50 countries, who will then embark on three days of intense discussion focused on the campaign now underway at UNESCO to secure an international convention on the protection of the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions. The Madrid Meeting will also feature contributions from three of the world’s foremost acknowledged experts on the UNESCO Convention: Ivan Bernier, Jean Musitelli and Hélène Ruiz-Fabri. It will also include a first-hand assessment of the intergovernmental negotiations from governmental representatives directly involved in the UNESCO talks. Canadian Ambassador to UNESCO Yvon Charbonneau , India ’s Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee, and European Union negotiator Xavier Troussard have confirmed their participation on this panel. In addition, Alejandro Jara, Chile ’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Chair of the WTO’s council for trade in services special session, will headline a panel discussion focusing on the implications of current trade negotiations for the cultural sector. The Madrid Meeting is being held at a decisive moment in the UNESCO negotiations. Just two weeks later, on May 25, a third and likely final intergovernmental negotiations session will get underway in Paris . Crucial decisions regarding the content of the convention must be made in the course of these negotiations if the convention is to be proposed for adoption at this October’s 33 rd General Conference. The starting point for the May negotiations will be a new consolidated draft text that was released by UNESCO’s Director General on April 21. The Madrid Meeting will provide participants with an in-depth analysis of this latest text—and the key issues still to be resolved in the negotiations. The focus will be on practical information and mobilization strategies that participants can use in their discussions with their governments at home. Participants attending this meetings will acquire the information they need in order to engage the leaders of their government in discussions to ensure they support a strong, truly effective convention that will fill a void in international law by affirming the sovereign right of countries to have cultural policies designed to ensure genuine cultural diversity both at the national and international level. Opening ceremonies will be held at the Madrid Congress Centre, with all panel sessions then taking place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located in the heart of the city, just moments away from such landmarks as the Prado Museum , the Plaza Mayor, and the Royal Palace . The declaration adopted at the conclusion of the Madrid Meeting will immediately be sent to all UNESCO national delegations, to ministers of Culture and ministers of foreign affairs, and to the chiefs of state and government of UNESCO’s 191 member states. The declaration will also be delivered one month later to a major international meeting of culture ministers that Spanish Minister of Culture Carmen Calvo will host on June 11-12 in Madrid to rally support for the UNESCO Convention campaign. Detailed program information can be found at the official website for the Fourth Meeting: http://www.coalicionedc.org./index2.htm. Registration for the meeting will be capped at 200 participants. For this reason, interested participants are urged to contact the Spanish Coalition for Cultural Diversity by email as soon as possible: coalicion1@empresarialeuropea.com. The Madrid Meeting is being organized by Spain ’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity—which was established last November by the three founding member organizations the Federation of Spanish Actors, the Spanish Producers Association FAPAE, and SGAE, the Spanish Society of Authors Composers and Publishers. The Meeting is being organized with the participation of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC), which brings together 23 national coalitions representing some 400 cultural organizations. The meeting is made possible by the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and the Spanish Society of Authors Composers and Publishers(SGAE). Simultaneous translation will be provided in English, French and Spanish for all sessions. TOP New UNESCO Convention Draft Released: A Tale of Two Texts? A new draft of UNESCO’s proposed convention on the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions was released on April 21—just over a month out from the expected start date of May 25 for the third intergovernmental negotiations session. The text released by UNESCO Director General Koїchiro Matsuura is in fact two texts. Appendix 1 is the ‘composite text’ released on March 3, which integrated the work of the plenary debates and drafting sessions during the February intergovernmental negotiations. Appendix 2 is a text prepared by the Kader Asmal, Chair of the intergovernmental negotiations, in line with a mandate he was accorded at the conclusion of the February negotiations to prepare a “consolidated text consisting of the draft provisions recommended by the Drafting Committee together with proposals by the Chairperson himself based on the specific directives of the plenary.” Asmal completed the consolidated text following a three-day drafting session in Cape Town, South Africa, working with Mounir Bouchenaki, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Culture, Katerina Stenou, Director of the Division of Cultural Policies and Inter-Cultural Dialogue, Jukka Liede of Finland, the Chair of the Drafting Committee, and Artur Wilczynski of Canada, the Rapporteur for the convention negotiations. How negotiations departing from two texts will work out in practice remains to be seen, but in his covering note the Director General states that the texts “are complementary and should be read together. They should be regarded as a working draft enabling Member States to pursue their deliberations.” TOP Spain to Host Major International Meeting of Culture Ministers on UNESCO Convention in June Up to 50 ministers of culture are expected to gather in Madrid on June 11 and 12 to reaffirm their support for the UNESCO process to adopt a convention on the protection of the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions at its 33 rd General Conference this October. Plans for the meeting were announced jointly on March 21 by Spain ’s Minister of Culture Carmen Calvo, Gilberto Gil of Brazil and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres of France . The meeting will be held one week after UNESCO’s third intergovernmental negotiations sessions is expected to wrap on June 4, and one month after the conclusion of the Fourth International Meeting of Cultural Professional Organizations in Madrid . The fact that Spain is hosting two such major meetings at this critical moment in the UNESCO process highlights their resolve to take a leadership role in championing the campaign underway at UNESCO. In a joint communiqué, Ministers Calvo, Gil and Donnedieu de Vabres stated that they consider the proposed convention to be an essential intrument for assuring the development of all cultures in the world while making the circulation of cultural goods and services compatible with the need to preserve cultural identities. The three ministers identified the following elements as essential to the convention: The recognition of the specificity and the dual nature of cultural goods and services which are both essential vectors for the distribution of works of art and the human spirit as well as having a commercial dimension. The sovereign right of States to adopt measures for the protection and the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. The fundamental role of cultural identity in supporting sustainable development, notably in developing countries. The necessity of according the Convention an appropriate and legitimate position within the international legal system, which implies that it must not be subordinated to any other international legal instrument. Respect in the provisions of the Convention for all applicable international agreements on human rights. The recognition of cultural diversity as a contributor to dialogue and mutual recognition and as a cornerstone of the establishment of an alliance between civilizations. TOP New Coalitions in Cameroon , Congo bring total to 23 The Third International Meeting of Cultural Professional Organizations held in Seoul , Korea , in June of last year is proving to have been a watershed moment in mobilizing organizations representing artists and other cultural professionals in support of the campaign for an international convention on the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions at UNESCO. Less than a year after the Seoul meeting, the number of national coalitions for cultural diversity has more than doubled, from 11 to 23, with the latest coalitions being established in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo during the month of March. On March 18, Joe Mboule, president of Cameroon ’s performing artists union, advised the Secretariat of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions of the creation of his country’s new coalition: “I am pleased to inform you that Cameroon ’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity was established in a general assembly held at Douala on the 15 March. Statutes for the Coalition were adopted and an executive bureau was established. The members of the assembly selected me to be president of the Coalition for a three-year mandate,” he concluded, advising that the Coalition’s file would be registered with the Prefecture of Wouri on March 21. On April 12, the ILC Secretariat was advised of the establishment of a Coalition for Cultural Diversity in the Republic of Congo . Jeany Ibela-Ibel, President of the Congolese artists’ union, has been elected President, joined on the Coalition’s bureau by 11 other leading figures from the country’s cultural milieu: Hugues Ondaye, Clesh Anyta Ngapi, August Fall Mpazou, Patrick Mpika Azano, Patrice Passi, Adam Opou, Paul Domesto Lendogo, Marixe Xavier François Ganga, Benga Pascal Zoutani, Charles Bouetoumoussa, and André Oka-Mbendza. TOP			Cultural Organization Leaders from 50 Countries Confirmed for Madrid Meeting New UNESCO Convention Draft Released: A Tale of Two Texts? Spain to Host Major International Meeting of Culture Ministers on UNESCO Convention in June New Coalitions in Cameroon , Congo bring total to 23 Coalition Currents is published by the Secretariat for the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC). Member Coalitions: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo, France, Germany, Ireland, Korea, Morocco, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Togo, Uruguay. 154 Laurier Ave. West, Suite 240 Montreal, QUE H2T 2N7 T. (514) 277-2666 F. (514) 277-9994 www.coalitionfrancaise.org e-mail: Editor: Jim McKee Contributors in this issue: Robert Pilon, Bruno Bettati, Geneviève Grimard, Marisol Paquin We welcome re-use of material from this bulletin with attribution. Coalition Currents is published with the financial assistance of Canada’s Department of Canadian Heritage, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Government of Quebec