Quelles perspectives pour la jeunesse de l’Afrique de l’Ouest

Diversity makes the Difference -
European Foreign Policy and Culture”
European Public Conference
9 March 2007
The Hague, the Netherlands


STATEMENT BY MR. RAYMOND WEBER
HEAD OF THE MEDIUM- AND LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES UNIT
« CULTURAL CO-OPERATION AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN THE PARTNERSHIP
BETWEEN THE EU AND AFRICA »


1. Brief historical context

Formal cultural cooperation between the EU and Africa is more than 20 years old! In fact, it was in
1984 during the adoption of the 3rd Lomé Convention when cultural cooperation was formally
integrated through Article 131. In 1984 the European Community had not yet been given the legal
basis for cultural action on the community level (this only became the case in 1992 with Article 128 of
the Treaty of Maastricht).

The Cotonou Agreement (June 2002), in Article 27 concerning “Social and Human Development”,
emphasises “recognising, preserving and promoting cultural values and identities and the value of
cultural heritage” on the one hand, and “developing cultural industries and enhancing market access
opportunities for cultural goods and services” on the other hand.

2. Present Situation

It would be wrong to say that over the last 20 years, nothing has been done. But one must say that
this “cooperation” is more “aid for projects” than authentic cooperation. Intra-African cultural
cooperation is being developed as are the cultural relations between Europe and Africa, even if they
remain largely asymmetrical. Progress has been made, notably in the film, audiovisual and cultural
industry. For example, the PDACI (Programme for the Development of Artistic and Cultural Initiatives)
and the PSCI (Programme in Support of Cultural Initiatives) have provided valuable help to artists as
well as to the creation of cultural actors and the creative process itself.

However, it is important to recognise that the results obtained to date have not achieved the desired
expectations, especially those of African artists and cultural actors.

What explains this relative failure?

I see two basic reasons:

 On one side, cultural cooperation has not been considered a priority in internal relations
between the EU and ACP countries, and neither by Europeans nor by Africans. Culture
Ministers, who should have been promoting this cooperation, are far from the decision-making
processes ensuring cooperation between the EU and ACP countries;
Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest
1
Le Seine Saint-Germain, 4 bd des Iles, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
Phone: +33 (0) 1 45 24 89 59 – raymond.weber@oecd.org ; www.oecd.org/sah

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 On the other side, EU-ACP cultural cooperation does not contain implementation
mechanisms, contrary to what has been done, e.g. between Europe and Asia, notably with the
Asia-Europe Foundation (which relies on the 27 EU countries and 12 Asian countries).

3. Perspectives

The two meetings of Culture Ministers of ACP countries (i) Dakar, June 2003, with the adoption of the
“Dakar Plan of Action for the Promotion of ACP Cultures and Cultural Industries”; and ii) Santo
Domingo, October 2006, which advocated for the creation of an ACP Cultural Foundation and for
strengthening the Observatory for Cultural Policies in Maputo), but above all the official establishment,
the 18th of March, of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expression, which should provide new dynamism to cultural cooperation between the EU and Africa,
for which cultural cooperation must be fully integrated into EU foreign policies as well as in
development cooperation policies.

It would be advisable to increase the role of civil society actors and particularly the role of cultural
networks, which would facilitate the following (and I am quoting only a few of the proposals made by
the Dakar Plan of Action):

 Culture must be restored to its role of underpinning development;
 Creativity in all its forms must be reassessed;
 Theoretical options must be translated into operational programmes;
 Culture must become a development priority;
 Training and improvement programmes must be used to build the capacities of private and
institutional operators.


Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest
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Le Seine Saint-Germain, 4 bd des Iles, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
Phone: +33 (0) 1 45 24 89 59 – raymond.weber@oecd.org ; www.oecd.org/sah

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« TOWARDS A NEW CULTURE-DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM


1. Historical background

Since the 1980s, the cultural sector, through the Mexico Declaration of UNESCO (1982) and the
Cultural Decade stressed the objectives of culture and the cultural dimension of development. This
recognition of the cultural dimension in all development policies finds its consecration today in the
adoption of the Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO, Paris,
October 2005).

The development community has for a long time remained reticent with regards to culture, considering
it a problem or an obstacle to development instead of an investment and an opportunity. It was the
World Bank, through its events on “the power of culture”, the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable
Development (2002) and, above all, the UNDP’s Human Development Report “cultural liberty in a
diversified world” (2004) which created a paradigm shift by juxtaposing culture with development.
I am convinced that we can learn a lot from the strategic thinking already carried out concerning the
interaction between culture and development policies concerning the cultural influence in the EU’s
foreign policy.

2. Present Situation

This gap between culture and development has been brought to the forefront by the European Union,
in particular in their relationship with ACP countries. They were ready, surely, to promote the cultural
sector and to develop cultural cooperation between Africa and Europe, but realising the cultural
dimension of development, if it existed at all, remained only in discourse, for example, in the 1st line of
Article 27 of the Cotonou Agreement, which states clearly: “Cooperation in the area of culture shal
aim at integrating the cultural dimension at al levels of development cooperation”.

The UNESCO Convention refers to culture, insisting on “the need to incorporate culture as a strategic
element in national and international development cooperation” (Preamble).

The European Union seems today to want to make up for lost time: although they do not refer to the
cultural dimension of development at all, neither in the “European Consensus” nor in the Strategy for
Africa (2005), they seem to grant great importance to the Draft Communication on the new roles of
culture and in preparation for the Year 2008 dedicated to intercultural dialogue.

3. Perspectives

Along with the text on UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions as well as their new thematic programme for foreign aid “Investing in people”
(2007-2013), today the EU adheres to a “cultural charter” which is needed in order to create a new
development cooperation approach, one that places culture, and especially cultures, at the heart of
the development process.

There is a sense of intensifying links between human development, socio-cultural issues, cultural
heritage and diversity (identity, values, beliefs) and cultural forms of expression (popular arts and
media activities) which have not yet been fully connected and mapped out.

Certainly these connections exist in numerous examples in development, community participation and
the arts sectors throughout the world. This year, the Sahel and West Africa Club will try, together with
ECOWAS and other partners, to map out the different resources that exist in West Africa and among
these, the cultural and social resources. We also intend to develop ideas and tools that will lead to
new perspectives for West Africa on the interplay of culture and development.




Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest
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Le Seine Saint-Germain, 4 bd des Iles, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
Phone: +33 (0) 1 45 24 89 59 – raymond.weber@oecd.org ; www.oecd.org/sah

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This means considering:

 Culture as a development context (the socio-politico-cultural environment that needs to be
taken into account in development activity);
 Culture as a content of development (the content of local languages, practices, objects or
traditions);
 Culture as a method within development (the medium or cultural forms that programmes may
use in order to address development issues);
 Culture as an expression (expression is fundamental to self-determination, community
engagement and to imagining futures).

Cultural approaches are being applied in the development arena in two obvious ways: as a tool
(generally message-based) and as a process. They start from people’s own experiences and involve a
participatory creative process, the output of which is not pre-determined.

Similarly, we can contribute to reforming foreign policy within the EU and in the different member
states and, just maybe, succeed on the international level to include culture and art as an additional
UN Millennium Development Goal.







Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest
4
Le Seine Saint-Germain, 4 bd des Iles, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
Phone: +33 (0) 1 45 24 89 59 – raymond.weber@oecd.org ; www.oecd.org/sah

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