News
February 14, 2012 - OAS launches publication on successful practices in culture in the Hemisphere
In the framework of the Inter-American Year of Culture, the Organization of American States (OAS) launches “Culture, common denominator for development,” a portfolio of 18 successful practices.
This publication illustrates the potential that culture offers for economic growth and social inclusion, with concrete examples from different contexts. The selected experiences are cultural practices currently being developed in the public, private and civil society sectors in 18 countries,. By disseminating these experiences, the publication aims to promote cooperation and contribute to greater regional integration.
The Portfolio also is a platform on which the 34 OAS Member States can share and learn about initiatives that have influenced development through culture, by reducing levels of violence, poverty and school dropout, as well as building more egalitarian societies with better opportunities for their citizens.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that in order to highlight the cross-cutting nature of culture, the Office of Education and Culture of the OAS is currently working on the second phase of this collection, which will consist of the selection of practices that exemplify synergies between the field of Culture and other sectors such as tourism, education, public safety, and health, among others.
For more information on this publication, please visit: www.desarrolloycultura.net
October 4, 2011 - The Organization of American States opens a call for proposals for inclusion in the portfolio “The Role of the Arts and Communication Media in Education for Democratic Citizenship”
The Office of Education and Culture of the OAS invites public-sector institutions, private entities and civil society organizations to present proposals of initiatives for inclusion in the portfolio of promising experiences and programs that use the arts and communication media as means of promoting education for democratic citizenship among children and youth.
A selection of public policies, programs and initiatives will be incorporated into the portfolio, which will be disseminated by the Organization of American States as a contribution to the exchange of ideas, dissemination of information and successful practices, and horizontal cooperation among the OAS Member States.
Institutions interested in participating can learn more about the requirements and access the application form by downloading the following forms: Form 1, corresponds to the submission of proposals related to the use of the arts to promote education for democratic citizenship; Form 2, corresponds to the use of communication media to promote education for democratic citizenship.
The deadline for receiving proposals is November 15, 2011. Submissions must be sent by e-mail to Romina Kasman, rkasman@oas.org, and to María Paula Farfán, mfarfan@oas.org.
We kindly request your help in disseminating this information as broadly as possible to those who might consider participating.
This initiative has been made possible thanks to the support of the Special Multilateral Fund of CIDI (FEMCIDI) and the Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the OAS.
June 9, 2011 - OAS launches publication to combat violence through culture
The Organization of American States through the Office of Education and Culture has produced “Towards a culture of non-violence: the role of arts and culture”, a field kit on violence prevention in the Americas. This field kit offers users a 6’49”-minute video and accompanying booklet with information on successful programs, statistics, and much more on how violence affects youth in the region and how arts and culture may play a vital role in building a culture of non-violence.
The booklet contains a guide that helps users create a dialogue on the topic as well as further information on the promising programs from Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, and the Caribbean that are explored in the video.
The field kit is part of the communications strategy developed within the project “Culture in Development: An Inter-American Information Network”. Another component of this project is a web-based platform to exchange information and promising practices among individuals and organizations that work on issues related to culture and development. To learn more about the network and become part of it, visit: http://www.desarrolloycultura.net/.
To access the online version of the Field Kit please click here.
To watch the video, please click here.
September 02, 2010 - Planning Meeting of the Authorities of the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC)
The planning meeting of CIC Authorities will take place at the OAS headquarters in Washington DC, on September 29-30th, 2010. The main topic of discussion will be the 2011 Inter-American Year of Culture, the activities to be developed during the year and to review the advances of the Working Group which was created specifically to coordinate and make decisions related to the Year.
June 10, 2010 - Third Iberoamerican Congress of Culture
The event will take place in Medellin, Colombia from July 1 to 4. To visit the website of the meeting please click here.
April 26, 2010 - Planning Meeting of Authorities of the Inter-American Committee on Culture
The Planning Meeting of Authorities of the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC) will be held on April 27 and 28, 2010 in Washington D.C. During this meeting the authorities will update the CIC work plan for 2010-2011; agree on the activities to be undertaken in the context of "2011: Inter-American Year of Culture. They will also discuss preparations for the V Meeting of Ministers of culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities and the Preparatory Meeting of the Ministerial, which will take place in December of this year in Brazil.
For further information on the CIC, please, click here.
March 23, 2010 - Brazilian Graffiti Artist wins 2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards
On March 10th during an emotive celebration six women from different parts of the world received an award given by Vital Voices to women who have fostered change in their communities and countries and who have positively influenced the lives of other women around them.
Among so many remarkable women is the Brazilian graffiti artist Panmela Castro who has been working in poor neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Panmela is part of a project called Grafiteiras Pela Lei Maria da Penha (a law named after a woman who was beaten by her husband and is paralyzed for life) that aims to combat violence against women. Through the use of the arts, women from the slums in Rio gain awareness of their rights and the existence of this law.
Panmela was a regional coordinator in the first edition of “Ignite the Americas” in Toronto, Canada on September 11th to 25,th 2008. Ignite the Americas is a hemispheric initiative aimed at bringing together young artists and leaders from the 34 Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS), policy makers and private sector representatives to develop strategies to build social inclusion and generate economic opportunities through arts and culture. The next meeting will take place this year in Brazil within the framework of the Fifth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and Highest Appropriate Authorities of Culture.
Panmela is also the co–founder of Artefeito and is involved in another project known as Graffiteiras BR network. She has traveled to different countries promoting the mission of these initaitives and sharing their work. About the Vital Voices Award that she received, Panmela says: “The award is very important as it brings visibility to our work on graffiti and fosters new opportunities for partnerships and broadens our area of action. We now are able to work not only in Rio but also we can create a network of graffiti artists in Brazil and in the Americas. We want to foster change for all the women in the world and not only for the ones in our community.”
For more information please click here: http://vitalvoices.org/vital-voice/panmela-castro-anarkia-brazil
February 19, 2010 -The Governor General of Canada mentions Ignite the Americas as an example of positive influence on youth
The Governor General of Canada the Honorable Michaëlle Jean acknowledged the work of Ignite the Americas during her speech on the Inauguration of the Jeanne Sauvé Lecture Series on February 18th, 2010.
The Governor General recognized Ignite the Americas as a campaign “allowing disenfranchised youth from across the Americas to influence policy-making at the Organization of American States.” Ignite the Americas is a Hemispheric initiative aimed at bringing together young artists, private sector, policy makers and leaders from the 34 Member States of the OAS, to empower youth and generate development through arts and culture.
The first edition of Ignite the Americas took place in Toronto, Canada on September 11 – 25th 2008. A second edition will take place this year in Brazil within the framework of the Fifth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and Highest Appropriate Authorities of Culture.
To read the speech, please click here.
For further information on Ignite, please click here.
February 17, 2010 - OAS Office of Education and Culture launches Horizontal Cooperation Fund
Horizontal Cooperation Fund for Technical Assistance Missions in Culture
A Component of the Project:
Culture in Development: An Inter-American Information Network
The Office of Education and Culture (OEC/DHDEC/SEDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS) has launched a Cooperation Fund for Technical Assistance Missions between OAS Member States in culture and development and related fields. The purpose of the Fund is to strengthen member states’ ability to design and implement effective policies and programs that encourage social and economic development through culture. The Fund, which will be allocated through a competitive process, will finance travel for technical assistance missions to enable a country with specific expertise in a particular topic to travel to, or be visited by, another country or countries that could benefit from that technical expertise.
The fund promotes bilateral and multilateral cooperation among governmental institutions of the OAS member states, for example, among Ministries of Culture, and also among governmental institutions from one country and other types of institutions from another country (for example, non-governmental organizations, universities and private institutions). The need and characteristics of the cooperation must be identified and negotiated directly between the parties, who must sign a written agreement of commitment before submitting the proposal for consideration. The parties must also submit a request form, which includes a justification of need, a draft agenda for the mission, and a preliminary budget, among other documents.
The deadline to receive requests from interested parties is March 26, 2010, by emailing the required documentation to María Paula Farfán: mfarfan@oas.org. Successful applicants will be selected by May 7. The missions are expected to be carried out between July and October, 2010.
This fund is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
To see the call for requests Click here .
Please direct any questions to: María Paula Farfán at : mfarfan@oas.org
The project “Culture in Development: An Inter-American Information Network” responds to a mandate from the Ministers of Culture of the OAS member States, as entrusted to the Inter-American Committee on Culture through CIDI/REMIC-IV/RES. 1 (IV-O/08) corr. 1 at the IV Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities held in Bridgetown, Barbados on November 20th and 21st, 2008.
January 20, 2010 - IDB Cultural Center calls for proposals for small-scale projects
For further information click here.
November 18, 2009 - Ramdin: Cultural Entrepreneurship Represents a Growing Area of Opportunity for our Youth.
To read the press release, please , click here.
Junio 19,2009 - South Africa hosts the IV World Summit on Arts and Culture
The IV Summit which is organized by the International Federation of Arts Council and Culture Agencies – IFACCA and the National Arts Council of South Africa will take place on September 22 to 25 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The event that happens every three years and aims to discuss issues affecting public support on Arts and Creativity has as its main theme this year : Meeting of Cultures: Creating Meaning through the Arts. Conferences, Panels and Roundtables are some of the activities proposed for the four day meeting.
For further information on the Summit, please click on the following link:
www.artsummit.org
June 17, 2009 - Resolution 2468: 2011 Inter-American Year of Culture is approved at the General Assembly
The XXXIX General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), which took place in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, June 2-3, 2009, declared 2011 the “Inter-American Year of Culture”, recognizing the important social and economic value of culture.
The Inter-American Year of Culture is meant to promote respect for the great diversity of cultures in the OAS member states, to foster intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, and to reinforce the important role culture can play in social and economic development. Among the activities to be developed in the framework of the Inter-American Year, the government of Chile will sponsor the Gabriela Mistral Inter – American Poetry Competition aiming to engage the participation of the youth in the arts and culture.
This resolution was presented by the Government of Chile as a follow up on the recommendation of the Ministers of Culture during the IV Ministerial Meeting of Culture that took place on November 20th and 21st, 2008 in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Ministers of Culture of the Americas will meet to discuss about the Economy of Culture, Sustainable Growth and Social Inclusion (Babados, November 20 - 21, 2008)
Ministers and Highest Authorities of Culture of the Hemisphere will gather on November 20 and 21, 2008 in Bridgetown, Barbados for the Fourth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities. On this occasion, Ministers and Highest Appropriate Authorities of the Americas together with representatives from International Organizations and Civil Society, will gather together to discuss the topic: "The Economy of Culture in the Americas: A Path to Sustainable Growth and Social Inclusion".
For more information, please click here.