Representatives of cultural professional organizations and coalitions from 10 countries met in Asunción, Paraguay, May 20 to 22 as part of the first Meeting of the Mercosur Coalitions and neighbouring countries. The meeting was organized jointly by the National Secretariat for Culture of Paraguay and the Paraguayan Coalition for Cultural Diversity.

Close to 150 persons attended the opening ceremonies which took place at the National Congress of Paraguay with several members of Congress and local diplomatic authorities in attendance. Among the guests of honour were Enrique Gonzalez Quintana, Chairman of the National Congress, Ticio Escobar, Minister for Culture, Industry and Commerce, Iris Rocio Gonzalez, Senator and Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Culture, and Alejandra Diaz of the Paraguayan Coalition, who each welcomed the attendees.

Following these speeches, Frédéric Vacheron, representative of UNESCO’s regional Mercosur office, and Jean-Luc Pilon, representative of the Secretariat of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD), delivered presentations on the application of the UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and on the challenges facing the coalitions and cultural organizations as part of the current campaign for ratification and implementation of the Convention.

A public seminar on implementation of the Convention followed. During this seminar, which was attended by more than one hundred people, coalition representatives presented models of cultural policies currently in force in the various cultural sectors of their respective countries. These presentations enabled an exchange with the public, and also allowed for a consideration of concrete actions to implement the Convention.

On the final day of the meeting, delegates from the coalitions and professional cultural organizations moderated industry roundtables along with representatives of Paraguayan organizations with a view to cooperating on the development of a national convention implementation action plan.

The Mercosur coalitions also held a dedicated meeting of their own at which representatives reported on their activities at the local level since a previous meeting of the Coalitions of the Americas held in Bogotá in November 2007. Following lively discussions, the coalitions in attendance undertook to immediately begin work on a number of specific projects, which they included in the final declaration (in Spanish only).

In particular, they resolved, with the coordination of the Paraguayan Coalition and in conjunction with the UNESCO Mercosur Office, to produce a publication presenting the activities of the coalitions in their respective countries.

As well, the representatives of each of the coalitions committed to preparing reports focusing on the principal existing cultural policies in their countries. When completed, the reports will be posted on the IFCCD website and published as a CD-ROM that the coalitions can distribute at other events and gatherings.

Finally, on Friday, May 22, the participants learned that members of Paraguay’s opposition parties had tabled a bill to abolish 15 governmental secretariats, including the one in charge of culture. The coalitions in attendance, in a show of support for the Paraguayan Coalition, immediately voiced their objection to this bill by drafting a letter to the members of Congress urging the members and senators to maintain the Secretariat for Culture.

To consult the complete issue of Coalition Currents Vol. 7 No. 2 click here.