UNESCO: PLANS TO PROMOTE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006814

SIPDIS

FROM USUNESCO
STATE PLS PASS USTR-BLISS AND BALASSA
IO/UNESCO: JCOWLEY
EUR/ERA: PCHASE
EB/TPP/MTA: AWHITTEN
L/EUR: JOSBORN, DSHARPE

E.O. 12958: NA
TAGS: SCUL CJAN ETRD CA FR UNESCO
SUBJECT: UNESCO: PLANS TO PROMOTE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF
CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION TAKE SHAPE


1. SUMMARY. The UNESCO Secretariat plans vigorously
to promote quick ratification of the Cultural Diversity
Convention, especially in Africa, following its
presumed adoption at the October 2005 UNESCO General
Conference. In apparent concert with these efforts,
the G-77 plans additional regional cultural
conferences, likely to focus on ratification of the
Cultural Diversity Convention. Following entry into
force, regulations shaping Convention's implementation
over the long term could be quickly formed. END
SUMMARY.

UNESCO Plans to Promote the Convention
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2. The proposed UNESCO core budget allocates over USD
two million for promotion of the entry into force of
the Cultural Diversity and Intangible Heritage
Conventions.


3. A UNESCO Culture official explained to poloff 28
September that these monies would help fund regional
meetings to form coalitions of support for the Cultural
Diversity Convention and draft materials in various
languages explaining the contents of the Cultural
Diversity Convention and urging its implementation.
This official stressed that UNESCO's promotion of the
Cultural Diversity Convention (see UNESCO budget
proposal, pages 173-174) would follow the same lines as
its advocacy of the Intangible Heritage Convention.


4. A different UNESCO culture official outlined at a
27 September lunch additional UNESCO Secretariat travel
plans that will include promotion of the Cultural
Diversity Convention.

--UNESCO culture sector officials will attend a
November 2005 Dakar conference, sponsored by the
International Network of Culture Professionals (INCP).
The UNESCO official noted that former Canadian Culture
Minister Sheila Copps was one of the first to advocate
a different legal/trade regime for "cultural goods and
services" and had founded INCP. She said that a UNESCO
official had attended the annual INCP conference every
year since 1998. Travel costs would not come from
UNESCO core culture budget, she said, but evaded
answering poloff's question about how the trip would be
financed.

--A December 15-17 Culture Ministers' conference in
Nairobi, which is part of UNESCO's regular program of
support for the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD).

--A January 23-24 2006 summit of African heads of state
in Khartoum, which will focus on culture. There is
some hope that UNESCO D-G Matsuura will attend this
conference.

G-77 Regional Conferences
--------------


5. Costa Rica's UNESCO Ambassador Monteil, the head
of the G-77, described G-77 plans to form a UNESCO
"South-South" Culture Forum, which would include
meetings focused on gathering support for ratification
of the Cultural Diversity Convention. A large meeting
was tentatively planned for June 2006, he said. He
intimated that UNESCO would assist in the planning and
funding for the meeting, but declined to provide
specifics.

Some EU countries apparently not yet focused on
ratification
--------------


6. UNESCO-based reps of some EU countries report that
strategic planning for obtaining ratification in the
national legislatures has not proceeded past initial
planning. By and large, these reps report that certain
interest groups in their countries vigorously support
the idea of the Convention, but that there are no
concrete steps to obtain ratification.

What happens after the Convention enters into force?
-------------- --------------


7. Thirty ratifications are necessary for entry into
force, after which an 18-nation Intergovernmental
Committee would be elected, with a term of four years.
(Article 29)


7. This 18-nation Intergovernmental Committee will
draw up operational guidelines and establish other
important precedents for the implementation of the
Convention. (Article 23)

Comment
--------------


8. The idea might be to get ratifications in one or
two European countries, with developing countries,
especially in Africa, making up the rest. Under this
scenario, one or two leading countries could easily
exercise a disproportionate influence in drafting the
precedent-setting operational guidelines.

Oliver