Rwanda reviews its policies and measures to promote the cultural and creative industries

In the framework of the  2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, UNESCO is supporting the Government of Rwanda with the preparation of its second Periodic Report on the implementation of the 2005 Convention using a participatory policy monitoring approach to review the impact of its National Cultural Heritage Policy and measures undertaken to support the cultural and creative industries sector in Rwanda.

Information sharing and transparency stands at the heart of the UNESCO 2005 Convention. Upon ratification, countries commit to submit every four years “periodic reports” on the policies and measures they have adopted, and challenges encountered in implementing the Convention. These reports are key instruments for civil society to engage with government officials in assessing progress made to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions.

The Government of Rwanda ratified the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2012, and submitted its first Periodic Report to UNESCO in 2017, which was completed with the cooperation of a national team and two international experts as part of a UNESCO project financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA).

For their second report, the Rwandan National Commission for UNESCO has established a multi-stakeholder national team of 30 people to be led by a local consultant, Dr. Cannisius Ruterana, over a three-month period from starting in August 2020 in order to finalize the report by the 1 November 2020 deadline. Rwanda’s national team includes representatives of different sub-sectors of the culture and arts, including stakeholders who participated in the drafting of the country’s first periodic report in 2016 as well as a small team from the core partner institutions, including: Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC), Rwanda National Commission for UNESCO (CNRU), Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Culture (MYCULTURE), National Museum of Rwanda (INMR), Rwanda Arts Council (RAC), Rwanda Arts Initiative (RAI), and Ishyo Arts Centre (ISHYO).

“UNESCO is please to support Rwanda, once again, with the preparation of their Periodic Report using an inclusive and participatory approach,” said Ms. Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa.  “The key findings of Rwanda’s report will be included in the next UNESCO Global Report “Re|Shaping Cultural Policies”, which provides an analysis of trends, best practices, and recommendations as well as evidence of how the 2005 Convention implementation process contributes to attaining the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” she added.

For more information on the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, see: https://en.unesco.org/creativity/convention.