Photo © Cyril Bailleul/Unesco

On June 5, the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) took part in the 4th Civil Society Forum organized at UNESCO ahead of the 9th Conference of the Parties for the implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The CDCE’s participation was organized under the aegis of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD).

A total of 55 organizations took part in the work, which led to the drafting of recommendations on three major themes:

• Recognising culture as a global public good: implications for sustainable development and cultural rights
• Diversity of cultural expression in the digital environment: challenges and opportunities
• Cultural governance, public policies and commitments to the 2005 Convention.

Take note of the recommendations transmitted to the parties.

In the first session, emphasis was placed on the importance of implementing many of the recommendations arising from the MONDIACULT world conference on cultural policies, at which culture was recognized as a global public good.

In the second session, civil society called for urgent action to regulate artificial intelligence in relation to culture, with a focus on human creators, artists, cultural organizations and professionals.

Finally, in the third session, the unique role of civil society in the 2005 Convention was highlighted, and several recommendations were made to improve dialogue between civil society and the Parties.

Unfortunately, during the Conference of the Parties that followed the Forum, rather than adopting civil society’s recommendations, the Parties argued that holding the Forum on the eve of the Conference of the Parties did not allow them to take proper cognizance of civil society’s recommendations. It should be noted that one of the recommendations resulting from the Forum was precisely to change the date of the event to enable the Parties to take cognizance of them before the Conference of the Parties, and thus increase the impact of civil society’s participation in the work.