More than 130 Ministers call for support to culture sector in COVID-19 crisis response

Over 130 Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Culture joined the online meeting convened by UNESCO to discuss actions to bolster the cultural sector, which is facing unprecedented upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministers spoke of the direct effects of the current crisis on tourism, museums, cultural production and artists, as well as the measures that they have taken to mitigate the impact of the crisis. They reaffirmed their commitment to intergovernmental dialogue and international solidarity in order to strengthen and unite their efforts.

Opening the debate, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, reminded participants that “We need culture, so we need to help it to sustain this shock. We must assess the impact of the crisis, launch a joint reflection and coordinated initiatives. UNESCO fully intends to play its role in this process, in line with its mandate.”

Ministers highlighted the social and economic benefits of the culture sector in their countries, and agreed on the urgent need to invest in the sector during, and following, the crisis. The mobility restrictions and containment measures that governments have been forced to adopt due to the pandemic have drastically curbed access to culture in the short term and – if action is not taken – could weaken the entire cultural ecosystem for generations to come.

A large majority of countries cited the closures of their World Heritage sites and cultural institutions and the ripple effect this is having within their countries. Indeed, to date, 90% of countries have closed or partially closed their UNESCO World Heritage sites and 128 countries have closed their cultural institutions. In addition to these closures, traditional festivals and a wide array of other events have been cancelled, impacting the cultural life of communities and the income of creative professionals, whose work is often seasonal.

In fact, Ministers repeatedly noted that artists and creative professionals have been among the hardest hit in this crisis due to the fragility of the sector, with many being self-employed, employed in small and medium-sized enterprises and, in some cases, working in the informal sector. During the meeting, many ministers highlighted that the collapse of cultural life and production was having a dire impact on the tourism sector – which, in some countries, corresponds to more than half of the country’s economic activity. Recent figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council show that 75 million jobs in the tourism sector are under threat.

To address the fact that the cultural sector has been one of the first to be affected by this crisis, and yet often the last to receive budgetary support, many ministers highlighted the emergency funding packages that they have put in place in their countries to safeguard the livelihoods of artists, artisans and creative professionals in the short term. Some of these include commissioning new works, often adapted to the new reality of the digital environment, to provide a continued income for individuals and access to culture for society as a whole.

Whilst countries are at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have already begun to undertake impact assessments to address not only the short-term impact but also to devise strategies in the longer term. For a great number of governments, the expansion of digital technologies will be a major part of the strategy.

Closing the debate, the Assistant Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone R. recalled that “there can be no future without culture”.

Original source: UNESCO
Published on 23 April 2020