The Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is a legally binding international agreement which aims to secure that artists, professionals in the area of culture and citizens all over the world are able to create, produce, distribute and enjoy a wide spectrum of cultural goods, services and activities, including their own culture.
The Convention was adopted in 2005 from the 33rd General Assembly of the member states of UNESCO and was put in force in 2007. To this day it has been ratified by 133 countries, including Cyprus, which ratified the Convention in 2006. The member states of the Intergovernmental Committee in cooperation with the Secretariat of UNESCO are aiming to define more specifically the ways of implementation of the Convention through the definition of operational guidelines (Operational Guidelines). It is important to mention that the aforementioned Convention has also been ratified by the European Union as a separate international entity.
The International Fund for Cultural Diversity is a multi-donor Fund established in 2009 under Article 18 of the 2005 Convention for a pilot phase of 36-months, , with the purpose to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing and least-developed countries that are Parties to the Convention.
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