Africa

Senegal elected to UNESCO's cultural diversity committee

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-22 02:18

Senegal has been elected to represent Africa in the intergovernmental committee of the convention for the protection and promotion of diversity of cultural expressions, official sources said Thursday.

The election was held during the first session of the conference of signatory parties to the convention which ended Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, the UN organization said on its website.

Together with South Africa, Mali, Mauritius and Burkina Faso, Senegal was elected to represent the African group. Senegal, South Africa and Mauritius will serve on the committee for a period of four years while Mali and Burkina Faso will only have a two-year mandate.

The session was held between June 18 and June 20 with the attendance of 300 delegates representing the 57 parties to the convention, notably the six countries which have already ratified the convention, observers and civil society, according to the same source.

The countries which were elected to the committee are South Africa, Albania, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Croatia, Finland, France, India, Greece, Guatemala, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Oman, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Slovenia and Tunisia.

According to the UNESCO, the convention on the protection and promotion of cultural expressions is aimed at "strengthening the ties which link culture and sustainable development and establishing an innovative approach for fostering international cooperation."

The convention reaffirms "the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, dignity of cultures, equitable access and opening of cultures to the world."

With this convention, the UNESCO has a complete legal framework, including seven conventions covering cultural diversity in its entirety, in particular with regard to the two pillars of culture: material and non material heritage as well as modern creations.