13/10/2002 - The third annual conference of The International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) took place in Cape Town in 2002. It gathered artists, activists and cultural organizations from more that 30 countries to debate the INCD’s draft Convention on Cultural Diversity and its relationship to sustainable development policies.

The annual conference of The International Network for Cultural Diversity will gather in South Africa rappresentants from 30 countries to debate a Convention on Cultural Diversity.
The International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) will hold its third annual conference from October 11th through the 13th, 2002 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Entitled ‘Fostering Cultural Diversity and Development: Local, National and Global Strategies’, the conference will gather artists, activists and cultural organizations from more that 30 countries to debate the INCD’s draft Convention on Cultural Diversity and its relationship to sustainable development policies.

The INCD is an international network of non-governmental organizations working against homogenization of the world’s cultures. The INCD was founded in 2000 on the Greek island of Santorini and presently represents more than 400 organizations in 60 countries. The Secretariat is housed within the Canadian Conference of the Arts in Ottawa, Canada.
The INCD will present the revised Convention and a statement of the conference’s findings to the culture ministers gathered at the concurrent annual meeting of the International Network on Cultural Policy ((INCP), also in Cape Town. The INCP is also working towards the creation of a treaty for cultural diversity that would ensure a permanent legal protection for culture.

The treaty, which would enshrine the rights of governments to support their domestic cultures and protect them from the effects of trade agreements, is an idea that has more support from smaller countries and from cultures that are at risk. The United States, however, is moving quickly to include commitments on culture in as many bilateral trade and investment treaties as it can before the treaty is negotiated. Also, pressure is mounting on countries to put culture on the table during negotiations on the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
James Early, a volunteer member of the INCD Steering Committee and Director of Cultural Heritage Policy at the ‘ Centre for Folklife and Cultural Heritage’ of the Smithsonian Institution, says that “The conference presents a watershed development, in that citizens from across the globe concerned about cultural democracy will present a legal instrument to protect diversity to the highest cultural representatives of their states. The hope is that these ministers will take on a formal and continuous role in establishing national and global trade practices that respect and promote cultural diversity.”

The meetings in South Africa will give both the NGO and the ministerial networks the opportunity to shore up support for the treaty within governments and civil society in the developed and developing world. This dialogue will also increase the global understanding of the inter-relatedness of cultural diversity and development.

Speakers at the INCD meeting include Swedish film actress and cultural activist Bibi Andersson (Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, Scenes from a Marriage), noted globalization activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, Canadian actor and playwright, RH Thomson (The Lost Boys) and Pitika Ntuli, head of the African Renaissance Centre.

For more information:
Kevin Desjardins, Communications Manager
info@ccarts.ca - Tel. : + 1 613 238 3561
Mike van Graan, INCD/South Africa
incd@nlsa.ac.za - Tel/Fax: + 27 21 6740520