The Commonwealth Foundation releases 'Sharing Strengths' report on cultural diversity Convention

The seminar, hosted at Marlborough House and supported by the Québec Government Office in London, brought together experts from Commonwealth and Francophone governments and civil society to discuss the ratification and implementation of the Convention.

The report, entitled Sharing Strengths: Commonwealth and Francophone engagement with the UNESCO 2005 Convention, sets out eight key findings and recommendations. In particular, the findings emphasise the need for co-operation in raising awareness of the Convention, as well as specific recommendations regarding contributions towards and uses of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity to be established as a result of the Convention. The theme of 'sharing strengths' also recognises that while the Francophone community has greater experience of the Convention, the Commonwealth Foundation has a strong track record in the meaningful involvement of civil society, which is emphasised by Article 11 of the Convention as critical to its success.

The 2005 Convention asserts the right of nations to implement cultural policies to foster the creative industries and protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions. In November 2007, civil society organisations at the Commonwealth People's Forum in Uganda issued the Kampala Civil Society Statement, in which they called upon member states, inter alia, to ratify and implement the 2005 Convention.

This seminar was a crucial first step in the follow-up to the Kampala Statement, and signalled the Foundation's embarkation on a process of facilitating dialogue between civil society and governments on issues of cultural policy. Sharing Strengths is expected to serve as a departure point both for future work by the Foundation's Culture and Diversity Programme on engaging with the UNESCO Convention and also for future co-operation with La Francophonie.

The Sharing Strengths report, which can be downloaded from the bottom of this page, will also inform 'Putting Culture First', a wider research project being carried out this year by the Foundation which will explore links in the Commonwealth between culture and development.

Related documents:
Download the 'Sharing Strengths' Report here (PDF)