UNESCO and the European Union have partnered to boost the creative economy in eight countries: Belize, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, Jordan, Nigeria, and Rwanda. As part of the UNESCO-EU Programme, these nations will receive technical assistance to enhance governance systems for their cultural and creative industries (CCI), focusing on sustainable development. The initiative aims to develop regulatory frameworks, tackle emerging challenges like youth employment and intellectual property rights, and foster international collaboration, supported by the EU and UNESCO's expert guidance.

Eight countries—Belize, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Nigeria and Rwanda—have been selected by UNESCO and EU to receive technical assistance to improve governance systems for their cultural and creative industry (CCI). The initiative is part of the UNESCO-EU Programme "Advancing evidence-based policies and actions and supporting policy development to enhance the contribution of creative sectors and industries to sustainable development".

The UNESCO-EU cooperation enters its 14th year, having supported 25 developing countries in their efforts to establishing regulatory frameworks for CCIs. Following the tried-and-tested methodology, this cohort of beneficiary countries will be matched with a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility who will accompany the two year-long process.

"This shared commitment between UNESCO and the European Union to assist countries in drafting policies and actions for cultural and creative industries comes at a pivotal time to reinforce the role of culture in sustainable development processes" said Mr. Toussaint Tiendrebeogo, Secretary of the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Developing regulatory frameworks

Belize, Djibouti, Jordan and Rwanda will undertake a series of consultations and actions to develop comprehensive strategies for their cultural and creative industries in favour of sustainable development. Special attention will be paid to emerging challenges and opportunities such as creativity in the digital environment, youth employment, and intellectual property rights.

Nigeria focuses on streamlining the effective administration of CCIs through the reinforcement of institutional and professional capacities, following the establishment of a dedicated federal body in 2023—the Ministry of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy.

The Dominican Republic will be empowered to create a social security system for artists and cultural professionals in line with the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions as well as the UNESCO 1980 Recommendation concerning the status of the artist. The lessons learned will inform the wider sub-regional strategy on social protection such as CECC-SICA (the Central American Educational and Cultural Coordination).

In the same vein, Côte d'Ivoire will work on strengthening the music sector through a better identification and protection of musicians. The country will draft a legislation to provide a comprehensive cartography of all the professions in the music ecosystem and to guarantee the protection of artists' rights as well as fairer remuneration. Through these efforts, Côte d'Ivoire aims to capitalize on the rising global music revenue, which recorded a 7% growth in 2022 according to the UNESCO report "Re|Shaping Polices for Creativity".

Chad will embark on the development a film code to better structure its largely informal audiovisual industry, responding to the recommendations from a recent UNESCO study, "The African film Industry: trends, challenges and opportunities for growth". The report revealed the potential of the industry to create more than 20 million jobs per year.

From drafting to action

The EU/UNESCO Programme also trains stakeholders to ensure that the regulatory frameworks translate into action. UNESCO will bring together stakeholders from the eight beneficiary countries, namely the Ministries and civil society actors, for knowledge sharing and awareness-raising. It also offers peer-to-peer exchanges and job-shadowing opportunities on a broader international scale, further contributing to the sharing of good policy practices and South-South as well as North-South cooperation.

The Programme is funded by the European Union for the period 2023-2026. It responds to the call to "strengthen and adapt our cultural policies to contemporary challenges", adopted by MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration.