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Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Culture adopts Baku Declaration

03 December 2008 09:40 (UTC +04:00)

The ministers responsible for culture of the member countries approved common principles on the approach to the diversity of the cultures in the document, APA reports. Participants of the Baku Conference of Ministers responsible for Culture said they affirmed cultural diversity between and within countries as a common heritage of humankind, agreed to contribute to sustainable economic, social and personal development, favorable for cultural creativity, promoted a sustained process of intercultural dialogue, which is essential for international co-operation, with a view to promoting Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law and reaffirmed the important role of cultural policies at national, regional and local level and their contribution for promoting intercultural dialogue.

Participants of the Baku Conference of Ministers responsible for Culture consider that the Conference of Ministers of Culture in Baku has offered an excellent opportunity to enhance cultural co-operation between Europe and its neighboring regions and thanked the Government of Azerbaijan for hosting this event in a spirit of open dialogue and exchange and with generous hospitality and excellent organization.

The Ministers responsible for Culture, partner organizations and other bodies participating in the Conference agreed to strengthen the co-operation process launched in Baku, in the framework of the White Paper, with a view to:

a) Wide dissemination of relevant texts such as the Council of Europe â€œWhite Paper on Intercultural Dialogueâ€ as tools for further work on intercultural dialogue including with states and partners beyond the Council of Europeâ€™s member states;
b) Organizing joint expert meetings and specific activities in the framework of co-operation agreements between the Council of Europe and the different stakeholders present at the conference in order to continue the reflections started in Baku to develop initiatives and possible joint projects in culture and the arts, which contribute to the promotion of dialogue, peace and sustainable development;
c) Encouraging the signature, ratification and subsequent implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, as well as the Council of Europeâ€™s heritage and landscape conventions;
d) Further strengthen the co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union in order to mutually support the respective policies on intercultural dialogue;
e) Further strengthen the co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE);
f) Providing support for the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative of the United Nations in order to enhance a culture of openness and tolerance built on a shared commitment to universal human rights;
g) Welcoming the possible perspective of extension of the â€œFaro Open Platformâ€ of inter-institutional co-operation for intercultural dialogue between the Council of Europe and UNESCO (Faro, 2005) to the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures (ALF) and the â€œAlliance of Civilizationsâ€ Initiative;
h) Considering the prospect of promoting intercultural dialogue on the basis of the Council of Europeâ€™s standards and values through specific activities with the Islamic Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO).