Peruvian Culture Minister, Diana Alvarez-Calderon, took part of the 4th annual edition of the Organization of American States’ (OAS) Inter-American Meeting in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, it has been reported.
The minister of Peru’s State in charge of Cultural affairs joined her counterparts and highest appropriate authorities from the member states of the regional organization in Haiti’s capital to adopt the Declaration of Port au Prince on Cultural Interdependence in the Context of Globalization.
The above-mentioned agreement describes culture as “an essential component of development that favors social inclusion, the fight against poverty, cooperation, exchange and local development through enhancement, protection and promotion of the traditions, values, and identity of the peoples of the Americas”.
This year’s edition of the OAS gathering ran under the theme “Cultural Interdependence in the Context of Globalization,” and featured the participation of the Minister of Culture of Haiti, Monique Rocourt, and the Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the Organization of American States (OAS), Sherry Tross.
In the Declaration, the cultural authorities committed to working with partner ministries, the OAS and other concerned institutions to establish the Citadelle Cultural Cooperation Program, which will “offer training opportunities and cultural exchanges for young entrepreneurs working in the area of development of cultural products and services.”
Furthermore, they pledged to “exchange experiences and support public policies that encourage cultural entrepreneurship, the development of systems related to improving the capture of data and measurement of the contribution of culture to the economy, and the design of cultural programs that contribute to the development of local communities with social inclusion and innovation.”
"The Declaration of Port-au-Prince reflects the importance that countries in the Hemisphere attach to preserving and promoting intercultural dialogue, respect for diversity of cultural expressions, and culture's role in supporting sustainable development in our communities," Executive Secretary Tross said in his closing speech, adding “Culture is a big contributor to local development, to economic growth and to social inclusion".
Ministers and senior officials with responsibility for Culture from 23 OAS member countries took part in the two-day meeting, as well as representatives of the private sector, academia, civil society and high-level experts.
At the Haiti event, they emphasized the intrinsic value of culture as a distinctive, unique and inseparable feature of communities and its role as a common denominator for the integral development of the peoples of the Americas.
The meeting saw the election of the new Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC) authorities. Haiti was elected to serve as Chair with Guyana, Paraguay, Argentina and Barbados as Vice Chairs.
At the meeting Barbados offered to host the Seventh Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities in 2016 and Paraguay the Eighth Meeting in 2018.
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Published: 8/15/2014