The
General Secretariat of the Andean
Community has designed a working
program in three basic areas:
 |
Development
of cultural industries |
| |
Preservation
and protection of the tangible
and intangible cultural
heritage |
| |
Strengthening
and promotion of cultural
diversity |
The
initial goal that has been set
in the area of cultural industries
is to lay the groundwork for
a subregional strategy to boost
their development. The General
Secretariat will work closely
with the Andrés Bello
Convention to update and systematically
organize existing studies and
analyses of the subject. Workshops
will also be held for the purpose
of drawing up an Andean proposal.
The CAN is interested in the
promotion by its Community bodies
of Andean movie-making, publishing,
theater, music composition and
dissemination, radio and television
programs, and its entertainment
industry, etc., as well as in
the adoption of Community legislation
that will facilitate the free
circulation of cultural products
in the Andean region.
Insofar as the preservation
and protection of our cultural
heritage is concerned, national
efforts will be complemented
by active cooperation among
the Andean countries. Mechanisms
will be identified in the sphere
of the intangible heritage in
order to safeguard our traditional
knowledge, popular culture and
folklore, in line with UNESCO's
new International Convention
to Safeguard the Intangible
Heritage. As for our tangible
heritage, Decision 588, adopted
by the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers in July 2004, created
new Community mechanisms to
protect and recover goods belonging
to the Member Countries' cultural
heritage.
The preservation of the Andean
cultural identity, safeguarding
of our different cultural and
artistic expressions, promotion
of intercultural dialogue as
a means for deepening understanding
among Andean peoples, and protection
of indigenous cultures are the
aims in the area of strengthening
and promotion of cultural diversity.
The development of an integration
culture is also being sought
through the systematic introduction
of integration contents into
school study plans and programs.
The Presidents focused on each
of these three aspects at their
Lima Summit in July 2004. In
effect, the Andean leaders urged
the preparation of a strategy
to develop the subregion's cultural
industries and consolidate Andean
integration and cultural identity.
They also called for the most
rapid implementation possible
of Decision 594 in order to
incorporate integration contents
into the Member Countries' basic
educational study plans and
programs and move toward subregional
recognition of the degrees awarded
by Simón Bolívar
University. They likewise entrusted
the countries to promote the
adoption by the Thirty-third
Session of UNESCO's General
Conference, to be held in Paris
in October 2005, of the proposed
Convention on the Protection
and Promotion of the Diversity
of Cultural Expressions.
