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CAIRO – 17 June 2017: Egypt was elected to occupy a seat in UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions for 2017-2021, Egyptian Ambassador to Paris and Permanent Representative to UNESCO Ihab Badawi said Thursday.
“Egypt’s victory with this number of votes reflects its distinguished international status and cultural value in general, and at the level of UNESCO in particular,” said Badawi. He explained that Egypt’s election reflects international recognition of Egypt’s respect of “all cultures and civilizations.”
From June 13-15, the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosted in its Paris headquarters the 10th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. During the session, members of the Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions were elected.
Two Arab countries guaranteed their membership in the committee, including Egypt with 83 votes and Iraq with 64 votes.
The conference’s theme was ‘Inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in the implementation of the Convention.’
The session also discussed the rights of authors in the digital field, noting that young creators in less-resourced countries are the first victims of disrespect for these rights.
On June 15, representatives from 144 countries, in addition to the European Union (EU), endorsed a set of guidelines on contemporary culture in the digital environment to help countries ensure that artists and producers benefit fully and fairly from the information technologies’ potential at the stages of creation, production and distribution.
“This is a major breakthrough to adapt the 2005 UNESCO Convention to the needs of our time. These guidelines are a way of ensuring that the digital environment can fulfill all its promises as a motor for an inclusive and creative society,” said UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova.
The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was developed in 2005 and entered into force in 2007. The convention aims to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions and create the conditions for cultures to flourish and to freely interact.
It also promotes respect for the diversity of cultural expressions and raises awareness of its value at the local, national and international levels.
The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is composed of 24 elected representatives of the Conference of Parties for a period of four years. The committee is to meet on an annual basis.
The functions of the committee include; promoting the implementation of the 2005 convention, receiving periodic reports from its members, establishing procedures and mechanisms to promote the objectives and principles of the convention in other international forums, and selecting projects to receive funding from the International Fund for Cultural Diversity.
The Committee may invite at any time public or private organizations or individuals to participate in the meetings for consultation on specific issues in accordance with its rules of procedure.
In August 2007, Egypt ratified the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. However, Egypt has not been a member of the Intergovernmental Committee since the ratification.
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