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UNESCO supports the SICA Region in the protection of artists and cultural professionals
With the purpose of defending artistic freedom and protecting the status of artists and cultural professionals, the Educational and Cultural Coordination of the Central American Integration System (CECC/SICA) has been selected as one of the 25 projects worldwide by the prestigious UNESCO-Aschberg Program.
The beneficiaries of this project will be the eight countries of the SICA region: Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Through the strengthening of institutional capacities in these countries, the aim is to promote the protection and promotion of the rights of individuals engaged in art and culture.
The CECC/SICA presented the proposal entitled "Regional Policy for the Promotion and Protection of Artists and Cultural Professionals in the SICA Region," which aims to create a regional framework that recognizes, protects, and promotes the rights of individuals engaged in art and culture, thus promoting sustainable and equitable cultural development in the region.
This proposal seeks to involve representatives from the governments of the member states of the CECC/SICA, as well as artistic and cultural sectors representing organized civil society and their communities.
The initiative focuses on three objectives aimed at implementing the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist from 1980. Firstly, it aims to strengthen the technical capacities of the Ministries of Culture and civil society. Secondly, it intends to generate quality data and information to support decision-making. Finally, it aims to raise awareness about the importance of the status of artists and cultural professionals through the dissemination of relevant knowledge.
About the UNESCO-Aschberg Program
The UNESCO-Aschberg Program for artists and cultural professionals aims to protect and promote artistic freedom and facilitate a balanced circulation of cultural goods and services, in line with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, known as the 2005 Convention. By addressing areas such as cultural trade and human rights, this program provides technical assistance, tools, and skills to foster the development of conducive environments for creativity, especially in the Global South.
This program invests in supporting and protecting artistic freedom in over 25 countries. The decision to collaborate is based on a report published by this organization that highlights emergency situations that exacerbate existing vulnerabilities in the cultural sector.
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