Cultural diversity
Research carried out in the 1990s by David Crystal suggested that at that time, on average, one language was falling into disuse every two weeks.
[12] In 2003, James Fearon of Stanford University published, in the Journal of Economic Growth, a list of countries based on the diversity of ethnicities, languages, and religions.
[10] At the international level, the notion of cultural diversity has been defended by UNESCO since its founding in 1945, through a succession of declarations and legal instruments.
[15] In the late 20th century, the diplomatic community recognised a need to protect intangible cultural heritage: the traditions, social structures, and skills that support creative expression.
One result of this convention was the 2008 creation of UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Heritage, which incorporated the masterpieces from the 2001, 2003, and 2005 proclamations.
This defined cultural diversity as "the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional features of society or a social group", including lifestyles, value systems, traditions, and beliefs.
[17] The twelve articles of the Universal Declaration were published with an action plan for ways to promote cultural diversity.
[20] Citing the Universal Declaration, the United Nations General Assembly established the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development in December 2002.
[25] To date, 151 signatory states, as well as the European Union, have registered their ratification of the convention, or a legally equivalent process.
According to the 2017 and 2022 global reports, attacks against artists — including prosecution, imprisonment, or even killing — have increased in recent years.
[38] While online services have provided new ways for artists to distribute images, music, and video to large audiences, they have brought their own threats to freedom in the form of censorship, surveillance, and trolling.
[39] Mobility restrictions present challenges to professionals in the cultural and creative industries, specifically to those from the Global South.
[40] Artists and cultural professionals need to travel to perform to new audiences or to attend a residency or to engage in networking.
[40] Travel restrictions, including difficulties in obtaining visas, often impede artists from the Global South to participate in art biennales or film festivals, even when invited to receive an award or to promote their works.
[41] The 2022 global report found that, despite governments and civil society organisations taking this inequality more seriously, concrete improvements are lacking.
[38] Social security in particular allows a more diverse range of citizens to take part in artistic activities, because without it, financially insecure people are discouraged from working in a field with unstable income.
[38] A gender gap persists worldwide concerning equal pay, access to funding and prices charged for creative works.
Generally, women are better represented in specific cultural fields such as arts education and training (60%), book publishing and press (54%), audiovisual and interactive media (26%), as well as design and creative services (33%).
[44] The 2022 global report found that cultural industries were increasingly making gender equality a priority, but that actual progress was slow.
[45] Between 2015 and 2017, at least eight bilateral and regional free trade agreements have introduced cultural clauses or list of commitments that promote the objectives and principles of the 2005 Convention.
[51] The cities of Porto Alegre and Barcelona have proposed the drafting of a reference document for the development of local cultural policies, inspired by Agenda 21, created in 1992 for the environment.
