UNESCO

Through the IMC, the EMC was part of the 14-member interim Steering Committee which was mandated by the CSO plenary in December 2017 to propose to a vision and alternative models of governance, codes of governance and structure for civil society coordination to act within the governing bodies of the Convention.

The first proposal was discussed during the CSO plenary which met on the sidelines of the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2005 Convention in December 2018.
IMC contributed to the joined statement made by CSO on the proposed changes to the framework for periodic reports that Parties to the Convention are obliged to submit to UNESCO.

Moreover, EMC and IMC lobbied for the recommendations of the 2017 CSO Activity Report to be taken into consideration by national governments and UNESCO.

In the 2017 Report, civil society had highlighted three key issues:
♦ raising greater awareness of the convention;
♦ transnational mobility;
♦ responding to the growing pressures and challenges faced by the cultural sector.

IMC co-drafted an open call to Parties to the Convention to facilitate the participation of civil society organisations from developing countries and to further support the work of CSO in governing bodies.

EMC contributed to the IMC global reply to a UNESCO survey on the implementation of the 1980 UNESCO
Recommendation on the Status of the Artist. All replies (from governments, NGO, experts, international NGOs, etc.) are currently being analysed by UNESCO with a view to presenting a report to the 2019 General Conference of UNESCO in November 2019.

On 20 October 2005 the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
You may download the Convention in English and French.

The Convention entered into force on 18 March 2007. You may find a list of countries that have already ratified the Convention on the website of UNESCO.