UNESCO Director General stresses importance of cultural diversity convention at the first Conference of Parties to the Convention (Paris, June 18 2007)
Mr. Matsuura began his address by stating that the Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions had come into force in record time for a cultural agreement, noting that “the main reason was no doubt the topicality of the ideas.” The director general believes that the Convention constitutes “the first normative instrument that so clearly ties culture to development, tackling head on what is proving to be one of the major challenges of the 21st century: the role of cultural expression in development, given the great changes in how culture is created, produced, and disseminated.”
Another reason for its success according to Mr. Matsuura is that “this Convention is one of the first, and one of the few, international instruments that simultaneously acknowledges globalization and endeavors to guide it and control its processes so that they ensure not only the protection but also the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.”
Noting that currently only three states from the Asia-Pacific region had ratified the Convention, and only three Arab states, Mr. Matsuura expressed his desire to see other countries from these regions quickly ratify the Convention.
The Intergovernmental Committee will hold its first meeting in December 2007 in Ottawa, Canada. Mr. Matsuura’s full address in French can be consulted here 
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