Culture ministers approve Declaration of Bridgetown
By Nelson A. King
The Organization of American
States (OAS) says Caribbean
culture ministers have
joined their OAS-member
counterparts in approving the
Declaration of Bridgetown on
“Strengthening of the creative
economy and culture sector:
Repositioning the culture sector
to secure sustainable development.”
The OAS said the declaration
was signed in Bridgetown,
the Barbados capital on Friday
at the end of the two-day
Eighth Inter-American Meeting
of Ministers of Culture.
“The declaration stresses
the importance of harnessing
the power of the creative economy
and the culture sector to
support jobs and growth, and
the need to safeguard and promote
culture to contribute to
the achievement of the (United
Nations) Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs),” the OAS
said.
It said the commitment
recognizes that creative and
cultural industries can act as
“economic drivers through the
production, dissemination and/
or commercialization of cultural
and artistic goods, services
and products,” and that
they “offer new opportunities
to boost countries in development
towards digital areas and
other high growth areas of the
world economy.”
The OAS said the declaration
focuses on specific commitments
Caribbean L 20 ife, Sept. 27 - Oct.3, 2019
to design and implement
public policies that
encourage knowledge management,
innovation and the
development of new technologies,
“taking into account the
role of the creative economy
and the cultural sector.”
The declaration encourages
cooperation among countries
to foster innovation and creativity
amongst micro, small
and medium sized enterprises,
as well as other productive
units of the cultural sector;
and promotes “intersectoral
links between sustainable
development and the promotion
of diversity and richness
of tangible and intangible cultural
heritage, as well as natural
heritage.”
In addition, the OAS said
the declaration updates intellectual
property policies and
systems that favor the development
of culture and the creative
economy through the protection
of the rights of creators
and owners of creative products
and services; and “promotes
incentives for innovation and
creativity and the encouragement
of lawful access to the
benefits of artistic, scientific,
cultural and industrial creations.”
The declaration also fosters
work on cultural data collection
“to understand the importance
of the cultural sector
by measuring its economic
impact and contribution;” and
identifies alliances for the generation
of policies aimed at
achieving the goals and targets
of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development “that
contribute to the advancement
of the creative economy and
the cultural sector.”
The OAS said the declaration
seeks strategies to deepen
the link between the cultural
sector and other sectors, “with
a view to advancing the ecosystem
of the creative economy.”
John King, Barbados’s Minister
of Creative Economy, Culture
and Sports, who chaired
the meeting said: “We must
find a way to cooperate on a
technical level more routinely.
He also applauded “the
innovative use of technology
in reaching young people,”
reiterating that “the objective
of the creative economy is,
indeed, the development of our
peoples.”
Barbados Minister of the Creative Economy, Culture and
Sport John King at the VIII Inter-American Meeting of Ministers
of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities at the
Hilton Resort, Barbados. OAS