THIRD SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION AND

UNCLAS PARIS FR 001685 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SCUL AORC UNESCO KTIA SUBJECT: THIRD SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS ¶1. SUMMARY. The Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Committee) met in Paris from December 7-10. Established under the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Convention),the Committee discussed its strategy for encouraging ratification of and promoting awareness of the Convention. To that end, the Committee adopted operational guidelines for submission to the Conference of States Parties and discussed creation of an emblem for the Convention. The Committee also appointed a panel of experts to make recommendations with regard to requests for funding of programs and projects from the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (Fund). The representative of Croatia was selected as Chairman of the 2010 session. END SUMMARY. ¶2. The 23 member Committee, under the leadership of the representative of St. Lucia, completed its work in half the allotted time. In addition to the states parties represented on the Committee, 51 states parties participated as Observers. There were 32 states not party to the Convention which sent Observer delegations (including the U.S.) as did intergovernmental organizations and NGO's. ¶3. Members discussed the status of ratifications, noting participation from various regional groups. As of October 9, 24 of 46 (52%) African group members had become states parties. The Europe and North America (including E.Eur.)Group had the highest percentage of members, 42 of 52 (81%) and Asia and Pacific had the lowest, 10 of 44 (23%). In the Latin American /Caribbean Group 19 of 33 (58%) states have ratified as have 8 of 18 (44.5%) of the Arab Group. Parties to the Convention expressed the hope that 35 to 40 more states would ratify by 2013. ¶4. The Convention (Art. 18) established the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (Fund) which is administered by the Committee pursuant to guidelines provided by the Conference of Parties. As of December 4, the Fund had received contributions totaling $2,132,384.36. In order to assist it in administering the Fund, the Committee appointed six experts selected from a group of more than seventy candidates nominated by states parties. The following individuals were appointed for a two year term: Ferdinand Richard (France),Baiba Tjarve (Latvia),Rosalia W. Iparraguire (Mexico),Li He (China),Kokou K. Denakpo (Togo) and Khamis Alshamakhi (Oman). Appointed as Alternates were: Bernard Boucher (Canada),Marek Adamov (Slovakia),Ricardo Nudelman (Mexico),Madhukar Sinha (India), Jean-Claude Dioma (Burkina Faso) and Abdelwahab Hafez Shamseldin (Egypt). ¶5. Committee members also discussed ways to raise the profile of the Convention. They decided "in principle" to create an emblem in order to promote the principles and objectives of the Convention. The Secretariat was asked to do a feasibility study and cost analysis for creation of an emblem. The study will also address the option of an open design competition and operational guidelines for the use of the emblem. ¶6. The Committee concluded that efforts to increase the visibility and promotion of the Convention require the mobilization and cooperation of all stakeholders (states parties, civil society, public and private sectors). It adopted operational guidelines highlighting measures which these groups and the Secretariat could take. Measures focused on dissemination of information, including through use of the internet and media campaigns. An important feature of these efforts should be sharing "best practices". With regard to a related agenda item concerning information sharing and transparency, the Committee asked the Secretariat to continue work on draft operational guidelines on Article 9 of the Convention, taking into account discussions during this session. ¶7. The Committee decided that its Fourth Session will take place in December 2010 and elected as its Chairman, Nina Obuljen of Croatia. Vice-Chairmen from China, France, Jordan, Kenya and Mexico were also elected. The agenda adopted for the 2010 session will be similar to this year's agenda. Two additional features will be the approval of the Convention's emblem and a discussion of the feasibility of appointing public persons to promote the convention. Related to this will be a discussion of education and public awareness. The fundraising strategy has also been added to the agenda. ¶8. COMMENT. The Third Session focused to a large extent on operational aspects of implementing the convention. The substantive discussion did not veer into problematic areas such as the trade law issues raised at the last session. END COMMENT. KILLION