The MDG-F thematic window on Culture and Development, launched in 2007, constituted a milestone for demonstrating the linkages between culture and development. Indeed, the overall objective of the thematic window on Culture and Development was to demonstrate that cultural assets are an essential element to achieving national development, notably in terms of poverty alleviation and social inclusion. To this end,18 JPs focusing on intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and expressions, cultural heritage and cultural industries were carried out across the world with a view to enhancing socio-economic opportunities and to improving cross-cultural understanding for marginalized people. Working at both the institutional and community levels, notably with indigenous and ethnic groups, JPs gave special attention to the participation of women and youth.
This experience certainly contributed to the explicit recognition of the contribution of culture to the MDGs and to development of the 2010 MDG Outcome document as well as to the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Culture and Development on 20 December 2010. This resolution, which emphasizes the role of culture in sustainable development and in the achievement of national and international development objectives, including the MDGs, represents a major breakthrough at the international level; it is hoped that the resolution will encourage stakeholders to fully integrate the cultural dimension into development processes, thereby ensuring their sustainability.
In this context, it is crucial to capitalise on the wealth of experience, as well as to document success stories and lessons learned in order to inform development policies and to contribute to advocacy and communication for Culture and Development. To this end, the Culture and Development KM plan was launched within the framework of a partnership between UNESCO and the MDG-F in order to systematically collect data and knowledge generated across the 18 JPs, and ultimately codify and analyse them with a view to future programming exercises. While developing several KM tools, the project brought together representatives of UN agencies and national counterparts to share and exchange implementation experiences, as well as to review the impact and contribution of their MDG-F Culture and Development JPs to the achievement of targeted MDGs.
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