OPATIJA CONFERENCE
FINAL
DECLARATION
16 OCTOBER
2003
This week, 110 artists, producers, publishers,
distributors, exhibitors, curators, cultural activists and scholars from 37
countries, representing NGOs on every continent and region, gathered in Croatia
to discuss the state of the civil society Cultural Diversity movement. This was the Fourth Annual Conference of the
INCD, each held in conjunction with meetings of culture ministers organized in
the International Network on Cultural Policy.
Our Conference, Advancing
Cultural Diversity Globally: The Role of Civil Society Movements had three
objectives:
- To
discuss challenges to cultural diversity that arise from technology, human
conflict, absence of cultural industry capacity in many countries, media
concentration and other issues
- To
analyze our relationships, with other civil society groups working for
cultural diversity, with governments and intergovernmental institutions
and with broader social activist movements.
- To
determine INCD priorities and strategies for the coming period.
Celebrating successes
Delegates celebrated remarkable progress in a short
period of time. The INCD’s work has contributed significantly to these
developments, among others:
- The
growing awareness among governments and civil society of the corrosive
effects that globalization can have on world cultures, in the North and
South, in the developing world, developed countries and countries in
transition.
- The
proposed Convention on Cultural Diversity, a component of the solution,
has moved from being a general concept discussed by only a few, to this
week’s UNESCO General Conference decision to launch formal negotiations to
develop a legal instrument.
The INCD also celebrated its own growth and
activities as part of this process.
- Our
network of more than 400 members in 70 countries plays a significant role
in raising the concerns, analysing developments, advocating actions and
lobbying actively for the Convention at national and international levels.
- Our
regional organizing efforts are bearing fruit. We opened a permanent office in Cape Town and engaged a
part-time staff member in Mumbai and a temporary coordinator for our
Cultural Impact Assessment project in Dakar.
- In
Cancún last month, we released a letter (copy attached) signed by leading
international artists with the following call to world leaders:
-
“don’t bargain away culture in
trade talks
-
implement a legally binding
convention
-
use your powers to support
diverse local artists and cultural producers
-
help those countries that don’t
yet have the capacity to bring their stories, music and other artistic
expressions to audiences everywhere.”
- We
were the first to release a text of possible terms of a Convention to make
the concept concrete. Modestly, we
also claim some success in encouraging culture ministers to adjust the
draft they have been conside3ring.
- We
encouraged the UNESCO initiative, wrote to all ambassadors and national
commissions to support the Convention and had an opportunity to meet with
several UNESCO delegations. The
INCD also responded by letter to the proposed U.S. Resolution tabled at
the UNESCO Conference.
- There
is increasing recognition at WTO, UNCTAD, UNESCO and elsewhere that the
INCD speaks on behalf of a significant and growing constituency.
- Our
members have approved a formal new structure for INCD highlighted by an
electronic and mail voting procedure that will permit all members to
participate fully in all aspects of the process of selecting our Steering
Committee and guiding the decisions.
In celebrating our successes, we acknowledge and
applaud the pivotal role played by Ministers organized in the International
Network for Cultural Policy.
A long-term engagement
built upon community involvement
At our meeting, we reached substantive and
sometimes challenging conclusions on some of the issues before us.
- We
will continue our focus on regional organizing, with the long-term
objective of securing a truly equal North/South partnership in building
our global movement. A second INCD
office in Africa will open next year and we have meetings planned in
Brazil, India, United States and Botswana in the next few months.
- Our
cultural impact assessment project has started and we will build on these
initial steps as we secure the necessary funds.
- We
will continue our campaign of active engagement with the World Social
Forum, the World Summit on the Information Society, the WTO and our
governments in bilateral and regional trade talks.
- Our
delegates concluded that media concentration, convergence and aspects of
digital technologies are significant threats to cultural diversity and we
have resolved to develop and implement strategies to deal with these
issues as our capacity permits.
- Our
delegates explored how intercultural dialogue can prevent conflicts and
contribute to reconciliation.
- We
began a discussion of cultural diversity aspects of education and hope to
continue it in the future.
- Understanding
the urgent need to fully integrate culture into sustainable development
strategies, the INCD will work with development agencies, the World Bank
and others to seek a commitment to allocate an appropriate and fixed
percentage of all development funds to support cultural development
projects that are consistent with our objectives.
- Building
on our Artists Letter, we will bring together a group of high profile
artists in Paris to encourage the UNESCO process.
- We
will continue to respond to new challenges that threaten cultural
diversity as they arise.
Convention on Cultural
Diversity
The INCD has a vital stake in the development of
the Convention on Cultural Diversity and are pleased UNESCO has agreed to take
on this task. We welcome the latest
Draft being considered by the INCP, appreciate the positive progress and commit
to continue to monitor the developments and engage the process. The following comments relate to the Draft
being considered by the INCP (www.inc-ripc.org)
and make reference to the Draft put forward by the INCD (www.incd.net).
If adequately financed and sensitively
administered, the proposed Development Fund, a concept we discussed at our Cape
Town Conference, will make a significant contribution. We note the acknowledgement of the
importance of preserving threatened languages and cultures, including those of
indigenous peoples. We also appreciate
that ministers have adopted the INCD approach that States must make positive
commitments when they ratify and implement the Convention.
But, we have several substantive concerns about the
Draft Treaty considered by the INCP at its October 17-19 meeting.
1. Article 4 – Relation
to Other Treaties
Existing international law provides clear rules for
resolving any ambiguities that might exist between international treaties and
conventions. By stating that “Nothing
in this Convention shall derogate from existing rights and obligations that
Parties have to each other under any other international Treaty,” Article 4
explicitly overturns these established principles.
We submit that adopting the language in Article 4
would essentially subvert one of the principal objectives of the Convention,
which is to ensure that, wherever possible, disputes about trade in cultural
goods and services will be adjudicated under its terms, rather than trade agreements.
The commitment in Article 12 for parties to
cooperate in other fora to promote the principles of the Convention, is welcome
but insufficient to overcome the relationship established by Article 4.
Further, where two states are members of both this
Convention and another treaty, the INCD believes they should be free to agree
to adjudicate a dispute under this Convention rather than a trade treaty. Article 4 precludes such an understanding.
2. Promotion of Cultural
Diversity
We need a powerful incentive for countries from the
South to ratify and implement the Convention. The INCD believes the Ministers
and UNESCO have a unique opportunity to take a bold and significant step toward
cultural diversity. We propose that
Ministers and UNESCO include in the Convention a concrete undertaking from
economically rich countries to provide specific and defined market access for
artists and artistic expressions from economically poorer countries which
accede to the Convention. We suggest
that an appropriate short-term target would be to double the volume of material
available from these countries. This
could be accomplished through tariffs, quotas, formal bilateral arrangements or
other arrangements.
The INCD notes that such a provision would provide
citizens in the North with increased access to the work of artists from other
countries, thus contributing directly to cultural diversity.
3. Public Service
Institutions
The INCD feels it is vital to recognize the
fundamental importance of public service institutions in promoting and
maintaining cultural diversity. We urge
the inclusion of the language found in Article 12 of the INCD’s Draft
Convention on the role of the public sector or, alternatively, language such
as: “Parties recognize that public institutions, including public service
broadcasters, libraries, archives and museums, play an important role in
safeguarding and promoting cultural diversity; each Party is free to organize
such institutions, define their objectives, provide for their funding and encourage
their use.” Such a clause may
perhaps best fit in the preamble.
4. Dispute Settlement
We continue to urge that principles for a dispute
settlement system must be included in the Convention, and repeat our submission
from Cape Town that the dispute settlement system must be transparent, must
guarantee input from third parties, including NGOs and must reflect that rights
of individuals are equivalent to corporate rights.
5. Rights of Artists
The INCD urges recognition of the fundamental role
of artists and creators in the development of cultural activities and the
cultural industries, and consequently to include stronger language in the
Convention on the rights of artists and creators, especially:
-
the right to freedom of
expression and freedom from censorship;
-
the right to respect for the
moral rights in their works;
-
the right to equitable
remuneration for the exploitation of their works.
6. Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
The INCD urges recognition of the special
contribution of Indigenous Peoples to the world’s cultures and to protect it
under an appropriate regime(s).
In our work on the Convention over the past four
years, we have demonstrated that non-governmental organizations such as the
INCD play a positive and supportive role.
We call on Ministers to continue to embrace this contribution and to
assist us to play a formal role in the development of the Convention through an
appropriate status at UNESCO.
We finally reiterate our caution of last year. All of us must ensure that our urgency to
conclude a Convention does not result in an ineffective Treaty.
Relationships
The INCP is central to the
cultural diversity movement. The INCD
continues to seek to improve our collaborative relationship with members of our
Network, those committed to similar principles outside the Network, UNESCO and
Ministers within the INCP.
While the INCD sometimes places challenging issues
before Ministers and others, our comments are put forward as constructive
suggestions for how all of us can collaborate toward the shared vision.
Acknowledgements