Culture Underscored by Authorities as a Cross-Cutting Sector for Development
Haiti, arguably one of the most culturally-rich countries in the
region, served as the ideal host of this year’s meeting of
OAS Authorities on Culture. During the opening ceremony, President
Michel Martelly highlighted his country’s abundant and rich
historical, religious, artistic, and literary
traditions,
noting that "this wealth of heritage constitutes a shared asset of
the Haitian nation and it enables us to embrace, with strength and
intelligence, the diversity of our artistic expressions and
movements. This heritage also represents a common foundation for
exchanges and a fertile ground for promoting interculturality, since
we are here at a regional cultural event."
The
Sixth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest
Appropriate Authorities
from OAS member states was held in Port-au-Prince on August 12 and
13, 2014 under the theme “Cultural Interdependence in the Context
of Globalization.” The theme chosen by the host Country is
particularly relevant as advances in communication technologies and
transport continue to expedite the flow of information, goods,
services, and people at unprecedented rates, influencing culture
throughout the world.
The
Declaration of Port-au-Prince adopted at the meeting highlights
culture as “an essential component of development that favors social
inclusion, the fight against poverty, cooperation, exchange and
local development through enhancement, protection and promotion of
the traditions, values, and identities of the peoples and local
communities of the Americas.” In the Declaration, member states also
underscored the linkages between culture and other economic sectors,
particularly tourism, and committed to working with partner
ministries, the OAS, and other concerned institutions to
further programming,
inter-agency coordination and cooperation in this area.
Culture’s linkages with the development agenda are recognized in the
organization’s core instruments or Charters. The
Social Charter of the Americas
for example, declares that “In the fight against poverty and in
efforts to improve the quality of life of all peoples, member states
recognize that supporting and investing in culture contribute
to economic and social development, creation of employment, income
generation, and construction of cultural identity, especially among
young adults.” In this line, in his
remarks during the inaugural session of
the meeting
Albert Ramdin, OAS Assistant Secretary General,
emphasized culture’s cross-cutting nature within the work of
the Organization, noting that it “features in several areas
of our work through the promotion of creative industries, links with
improving competitiveness in SMEs, innovation, and trade, and
tourism.”
For
her part, Sherry Tross, Executive Secretary for Integral Development
(SEDI-OAS) thanked the Haitian government for their hospitality,
acknowledging the regional commitment to hemispheric cooperation
shown by participating governments and “the willingness to share
ideas, exchange experiences and promote partnerships that can
strengthen cultural initiatives at the local, national and regional
levels.” She also stressed that “the General Secretariat is
committed to providing support to member states through initiatives
that enhance policy dialogue and advance Inter-American cooperation
to ensure that culture’s true contribution to development within the
region is both recognized and enhanced.”
Further emphasizing Inter-American cooperation in this area,
the Minister of Culture of Haiti, Monique
Rocourt, affirmed that the meeting "is certain to further motivate
us to pool our resources and talents for the development of cultural
industries and thus to create wealth for the region.” In addition,
the Minister emphasized that “the conclusions of this meeting,
reflected in the Declaration of Port-au-Prince, should
as never before allow us to continue to join forces to enrich
dialogue and exchange among the peoples of the Americas.”
With
the participation of representatives from government, the private
sector and civil society, the two-day Ministerial meeting which
culminated in the adoption of the Declaration, also served as a
platform for the exchange of experiences and best practices in the
area of Culture. Ministries and other Cultural Authorities and
relevant institutions such as UNESCO, the International Council of
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) were among the high level participants gathered in Haiti to
discuss how culture may be advanced in the Americas.
Going forward, the agreements reached in Haiti
will become operative through the work of the OAS-SEDI with member
states, guided by the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC). The
new authorities of the CIC were elected at the meeting, including
Haiti as Chair and Argentina, Barbados, Guyana and Paraguay as Vice
Chairs.
Upcoming High level Meetings on Culture will be
held in Barbados and Paraguay in 2016 and 2018.
Measuring the Impact of Culture in the Economy
As indicated in the high-level meeting and resulting
declaration, both governments and experts agree that in order to
design appropriate policies and programs in the area of culture,
more should be done with respect to capturing data, developing
indicators and conducting impact assessments that will enable
policy-makers to measure the contribution of culture to the
economy.
Recent work undertaken by the OAS-SEDI in the area of culture
is addressing this pressing need.
“The Economic Impact of the Creative Industries in the Americas”,
a joint study by the OAS, the IDB and the British
Council and prepared by Oxford Economics, estimates that 14% of
the U$640 billion value of exports of creative goods and
services was originated in the Americas and that the sector is
expected to play a bigger role in the region’s economy in coming
years. It also reiterates that the creative sector is an
important source of employment in some countries, providing
between 5 and 11% of jobs, a high percentage of which is youth
employment.
In addition, the OAS-SEDI has supported member states in
strengthening their cultural information systems through
training and
technical cooperation missions to improve the
capacity to develop Cultural Satellite Accounts. Cultural
Satellite Accounts offer a common framework for countries to
estimate the contribution of the creative and cultural
industries in their economies, facilitating international
statistical comparison and cooperation and providing evidence
for decision-making and policy formulation.
Moreover, the OAS Development Cooperation Fund (OAS/DCF) -
formerly FEMCIDI- is funding a project in Andean countries
to support the development and sustainability of their Cultural
Satellite Accounts. The project supports data harmonization and
the elaboration of a subregional report on cultural economic
indicators.
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