MINISTER DUGGINS UNDERSCORES THE LINK BETWEEN CULTURAL POLICIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT MONDIACULT 2022

Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 1, 2022 (SKNIS): Minister of the Creative Economy with responsibility for Culture, Hon. Samal Duggins has addressed virtually the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development—MONDIACULT 2022, which took place from 28th September to 30th September, in Mexico City, Mexico.

In his address to the Mondiacult 2022 on September 29, 2022, Minister Duggins took the opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of St. Kitts and Nevis to sustainable cultural policies. 

“My Ministry has embarked on an ambitious policy to galvanize, cultivate and preserve the creative and cultural industry in St. Kitts and Nevis. This is based on work in which original ideas are important, such as work in the arts or the media, drama, film-making, music and dance are duly recognized and celebrated. These encapsulate all strands of our twin-island society.  We recognize that the creative industries, linked to local cultural talents, possess significant economic potential, and drive innovation and value-creation, employing our citizens, including youth and women. My government is also pursuing a distinctly SIDS-associated cultural and creative entrepreneurship policy as a means of bolstering cultural identity and promoting intangible cultural heritage.  The two are intimately inter-connected,” said Minister Duggins.

The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 is being conveyed by UNESCO forty years after the first MONDIACULT World Conference on Cultural Policies held in Mexico City (Mexico) in 1982, and 24 years after the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies for Development held in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1998. 

Minister Samal Duggins also indicated that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is committed to a multi-stakeholder approach supported by UNESCO. 

“St. Kitts and Nevis endorses fully the orthodoxy promulgated by UNESCO in emphasizing the community cohesive role of creative and cultural industries and in encouraging intercultural dialogue and promoting mutual understanding.  This latter attribute is important for small island developing states in the Caribbean.  Our aim is to re-integrate young men, who through their disenchantment with traditional education, leave school prematurely. By reinstating these young men back into society, they can make constructive contributions through their creative talents in local communities and society at large. We also acknowledge the UNESCO advocacy in improving the status of artists, the creation of an enabling environment for sustainable development and adaptation of cultural policies to meet the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital transformation of the economy,” he said. 

The Conference will pave the way for the full integration of culture as a global public good in the post-2030 Agenda for inclusive and sustainable development.

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