Coalitions Push Ratification of UNESCO Convention Through Meetings, Seminars

European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity Hold Second Meeting in Brussels

The nine European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity established to date met for the second time in Brussels on January 17 and 18. With only the Hungarian and Irish coalitions not present at the meeting, delegates discussed the ratification of the UNESCO convention by the European Community and its 25 member states, praising the proposal for Council decision on ratification of the Convention, adopted by the European Commission on December 21, 2005, that paves the way for ratification by the Community.

The delegates also discussed European political matters pertaining to culture, such as the revision of the "Television without Frontiers" directive, budget allocations for the culture and media programs, and the proposed new directive on services.

On January 17th, the delegates met with representatives of Jan Figel, European commissioner responsible for culture, and Louis Michel, commissioner for development, and adopted a final declaration in which they commit to actively promote the development of new coalitions throughout Europe.

The text of the final declaration is posted in both French and English on the website of the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity (www.coalitionfrancaise.org).

Barcelona Workshop Organized by Spanish Coalition

On November 23 in Barcelona, a workshop on the theme ‘Cultural diversity and the UNESCO convention’ featured as participants representatives from coalitions from Spain, France, Italy, Morocco and Canada, as well as the heads of cultural organizations working to establish the Tunisian coalition. Participants included Rufino Sanchez of SGAE, the Spanish society of authors; Silvana Buzzo, of the national association of cinema authors on behalf of the Italian coalition; Geraldine Loulergue, of the French authors society SACD, on behalf of the French coalition; El Hassan Neffali, of the national union of theatre professionals on behalf of the Moroccan coalition, Ahmed Attia, of the producers union on behalf of the Tunisian coalition; Zeyneb Farhat, of El Teatro also on behalf of the Tunisian coalition; and Robert Pilon of the Canadian coalition, as a representative of the ILC.

The workshop, organized by the Spanish coalition in collaboration with the Canadian arm of the ILC secretariat, took place in the context of the “Culture in the Euro-Mediterranean Space” meeting, a large international conference organized by the department of culture of the government of Catalan, and the Interarts Foundation on the occasion of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit of Barcelona. Close to 200 participants took part in various workshops during the conference.


Casablanca Symposium Organized at the Initiative of the Moroccan Coalition

A major symposium on the theme “Cultural diversity in the era of globalization: what is at stake?” took place on November 30 at the university of Mohammedia, a town near Casablanca. The close to 400 participants included students, professors, artists and other cultural professionals, leaders of cultural professional organizations, and government representatives.

The meeting, jointly organized by the law faculty of the University Hassan II of Mohammedia, the Moroccan coalition of arts and culture, and the municipal council of the town of Mohammedia, was inaugurated by the minister of communications of Morocco, Nabil Benabdellah.

In the context of this symposium, El Hassan Neffali, president of the national union of theatre professionals and of the Morrocan coalition, Claude Michel, secretary of the CGT union’s performing arts federation and representative of the French coalition, and Robert Pilon, executive vice-president of the Canadian coalition, made presentations during a workshop entitled “Culture and globalization: reasons for a convention on the protection of cultural contents and aspects of artistic expressions.”


Brazil CCD Hosts Cultural Diversity Workshop at 6th Brazilian Cinema Congress

The importance of the UNESCO cultural diversity convention to cultural industries was the theme of a workshop organized at the initiative of Brazil’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity during the Sixth Brazilian Cinema Congress held December 7-11 in Recife.

On behalf of the Secretariat of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity, Robert Pilon joined filmmaker Geraldo Moraes, president of the Brazilian CCD and outgoing president of the Cinema Congress, filmmaker Bebe Kamin of the Argentine Coalition and vice-president of DAC, the Argentine directors’ association for the December 8 workshop, which focused on the campaign to ratify the convention in the wake of the its adoption at UNESCO’s 33rd General Conference last October.

The topic of the UNESCO Convention was picked up during a subsequent panel by Juca Ferreira, the executive secretary of the minister of culture of Brazil, spoke in favour of early ratification by his government.

The Sixth Congress was attended by more than 120 participants, including leaders of the 55 member organizations of the Congress, senior officials responsible for cultural policies and cultural agencies, as well as professionals from the cinema sector and media. The bi-annual gathering is held to take stock of the state of cinema in Brazil and internationally.

At the conclusion of the Congress, delegates elected Paulo Boccato as its new president for the next two years. They also adopted a declaration setting out detailed recommendations for action in major areas of concern to Brazil’s cinema sector. In it, the Congress pledged to work as part of the Brazilian Coalition for Cultural Diversity to achieve its objectives—notably, to work to secure early ratification of the convention by the government of Brazil.

French Coalition Conducts Mission to Tokyo and Taipei

On December 19 and 20, Debora Abramowicz of the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity, was in Tokyo for a series of individual meetings with cultural professional organizations, as well as with government officials. The meetings were with Bunkacho (the Japanese government body responsible for culture), the Japan Writers’ Guild (representing book writers), the Directors Guild of Japan, Japan Performing Arts, and the Writers Guild of Japan (representing screenwriters). All stated that they were mobilizing in support of rapid ratification of the UNESCO convention by Japan.

At the invitation of the French Institute of Taipei, the French Coalition representative began her mission to Asia by meeting with a number of Taipei’s cultural professional organizations on December15 and 16 to speak with them about cultural diversity, outline the content of the new UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, and to introduce the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity. A conference organized by the French Institute on the morning of December 16, brought together representatives of these cultural organizations for a constructive exchange. The French Coalition and the French Institute will follow up on this initial exchange.

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