One hundred-fifty States unanimously adopted an ambitious Declaration for Culture at the end of a three-day conference convened by UNESCO. The text affirms culture as a “global public good”. It reflects countries’ agreement on a common roadmap to strengthen public policies in this field.

MONDIACULT 2022, the largest world conference devoted to culture in the last 40 years, brought together nearly 2,600 participants over three days in Mexico City. At UNESCO’s and Mexico’s invitation, 150 States sent delegations to the conference, 135 of them were represented at the highest level by ministers of culture.

In the Declaration, the fruit of ten months of multilateral negotiations led by UNESCO, States affirm for the first time that culture is a “global public good”. Consequently, States call for culture to be included “as a specific objective in its own right” among the next United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The text defines a set of cultural rights that need to be taken into account in public policies, ranging from the social and economic rights of artists, to artistic freedom, the right of indigenous communities to safeguard and transmit their ancestral knowledge, and the protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage.

It also calls for substantial regulation of the digital sector, notably of the major platforms, for the benefit of online cultural diversity, artists’ intellectual property rights and fair access to content for all.

Read full original article MONDIACULT 2022: States adopt historic Declaration for Culture at unesco.org