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UNESCO World ReportInvesting in Cultural Diversity and

Intercultural Dialogue

UBND TỈNH

QUẢNG NAM

An inter-sectoral report involving all fields of competencies of UNESCO

• Education• Culture• Natural Sciences• Human and Social Sciences• Communication and Information

• Mexico Conference (1982)A broader definition of culture, encompassing “the whole complex of distinctiveness spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or social group, not limited to the arts and letters, and including modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs”

• The report of the World Commission on Culture and Development Our Creative Diversity (1996)Cultural Diversity is not simply an asset to be preserved but a resource to be promoted

The rethinking of cultural diversity in latest years

• The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001)Cultural diversity “widens the range of options open to everyone; it is one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, moral and spiritual existence”

• An expanding interest:UNDP Human Development Report 2004 Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse WorldWHO 2002, first traditional medicine strategyWorld Bank 1999, International conferences Culture counts

The rethinking of cultural diversity in latest years

• Advisory Committee of 15 experts• 50 background papers• Released in October 2010, available in all six UN

official languages• Summary available in six languages + Catalan,

Portuguese, German, Dutch, Indonesian and Vietnamese

• The World Report has 8 Chapters, 10 Recommendations

The World Report

Objectives of the World Report

- To analyze cultural diversity in all aspects, by attempting to show the complexity of the processes at work while at the same time identifying a main thread among the wide range of possible interpretations;

- To show the importance of cultural diversity in different areas (languages, education, communication and creativity), which, their intrinsic functions apart, may be seen as essential for the safeguarding and promotion of cultural diversity;

- to convince decision-makers and the various stakeholders of the importance of investing in cultural diversity as an essential dimension of intercultural dialogue, since it can renew our approaches to sustainable development, is a prerequisite for the exercise of universally recognized human rights and freedoms, and can serve to strengthen social cohesion and democratic governance

Preconceptions that need to be re-examined:

• Globalization leads inevitably to cultural homogenization

• Cultural diversity is reducible to the diversity of national cultures

• Cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue are mutually exclusive

• Cultural diversity and the economy are mutually incompatible

Preconceptions that need to be re-examined:

• Scientific and technological progress and the diversity of cultural practices are mutually incompatible

• There is an irreconcilable contradiction between cultural diversity and universalism

The World Report

• Suggests a new approach that emphasizes the dynamic character of cultural diversity.

The implications of cultural diversity for public policy

• In the field of languages

• In education

• In the area of communication and cultural contents

• In the private sector

Main challenges to be addressed

• It is necessary to combat the spread of cultural illiteracy

• There is a need to strengthen the foundations of universalism

• There is a need to explore the new approach opened up by recognition of the multiple – multidimensional – identities of individuals and groups in order to further the development of cultural pluralism

Recommendations

• Consideration should be given to establishing a World Observatory on Cultural Diversity to monitor the impacts of globalization and to serve as a source of information and data for comparative research with a forward-looking function

Recommendations

• Support should continue to be given to networks and initiatives for intercultural and interfaith dialogue at all levels, while ensuring the full involvement of new partners, especially women and young people

Recommendations

• National language policies should be implemented with a view to both safeguarding linguistic diversity and promoting multilingual competencies

• In order to further the process of learning to live together, there is a need to promote intercultural competencies, including those embedded in the everyday practices of communities, with a view to improving pedagogical approaches to intercultural relations

Recommendations

• There is a need to encourage cultural sensitivity in the production and consumption of communication and information contents, thereby facilitating access, empowerment and participation

Recommendations

• Creativity being a source of social and technological innovation, there is a need to invest in its development, both in the cultural sector and in the business sector, within which cultural diversity is to be understood as a source of profit and enhanced performance, conducive to corporate “cultural intelligence”

Recommendations

• The principles of cultural diversity, as embodied in particular in the Cultural Diversity Lens, should be duly taken into account in the design, implementation and monitoring of all development policies

Recommendations

• As universally recognized human rights, should be guaranteed to every individual, their effective exercise can be fostered through the recognition of cultural diversity, which can also reinforce social cohesion and encourage renewed modes of democratic governance. Policies conducive to the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity should be encouraged to this end

Recommendations

• There is a need to promote awareness among policy- and decision-makers about the benefits of intercultural and interfaith dialogue, while bearing in mind its potential instrumentalization

• Consideration should be given to establishing a national mechanism for monitoring public policies as they relate to cultural diversity, with a view to ensuring improved governance and the full implementation of universally recognized human rights