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