The convention called the “Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions” was approved by a landslide vote of 148 in favour, 2 against, with 4 abstentions during the closing plenary session of UNESCO’s 33rd General Conference. Only the United States and Israel voted against adoption. Australia, Honduras, Liberia and Nicaragua abstained.

The 31 coalitions for cultural diversity now in existence—which are comprised of more than 500 professional organizations representing writers, composers, director, performing artists, and visual artists as well as independent publishers and producers and distributors of film, television and music—praised the work of leader countries in securing a convention that:

• Recognizes in international law the distinctive nature of cultural goods and services as vehicles of values, identity and meaning.
• Clearly affirms of the right of countries to have cultural policies to ensure genuine diversity of cultural expressions domestically.
• Includes provisions by which developed countries undertake to support developing countries in nurturing the development of their own emerging cultural industries
• Asserts the principle of non-subordination—meaning the legal status of the convention in international law will be equal to that of other international treaties, including trade agreements.
• Commits countries to take the provisions of the convention into account not only when entering into other international agreements, but also when applying and interpreting agreements to which they are party.
• Includes a basic dispute settlement mechanism, creating the potential that in the years ahead the convention will accumulate a body of decisions on issues of cultural policy that will ultimately influence how culture is treated in trade agreements.

With countries under increasing pressure in trade negotiations to give up their right to have cultural policies, the adoption of the UNESCO-convention was seen as urgent. The overwhelming majority vote in favour of the convention should show that the right to have cultural policies (domestic content quotas, subsidies, tax credits, foreign ownership rules, etc.) is now recognized as a priority by countries all over the world. The reason for this is clear: with very few exceptions, countries need to be able to such policies to ensure their citizens have access to their own culture. Healthy levels of domestic cultural production are essential for there to be a balanced exchange of cultural goods and services among countries internationally.

The Challenge Ahead: Ratification

While hailing the major progress represented by the vote on adoption, the coalitions stressed that the campaign is not over but instead now shifts to a new phase: ratification. For the convention to enter into legal effect, 30 countries must ratify it. But a greater number will be needed to invest the convention with serious legal and political currency. For the potential of the convention to be fulfilled, ratification by 50 to 60 countries over the next two to three years will be needed—in all regions of the world: Africa, Asia/Oceania, the Americas, and Europe.

The coalitions, which have worked actively over the past six years to build broad international support for the idea of an international convention on cultural diversity, urged countries that had championed the convention through the negotiations and adoption phase to now launch a concerted ratification campaign. They noted that this will clearly be needed in light of the intense opposition to the convention from the United States throughout the negotiations—opposition now expected to be channelled into pressure on other countries not to ratify.

The coalitions pledged to urge the governments of their own countries to ratify the convention on an urgent basis, and to continue their mobilization work in building broad support internationally for the sovereign right of countries to have cultural policies.

You can find an article on the convention by HBF's board member Barbara Unmüßig called "Culture against free trade" (in German language only) here