Report on the Pro—Tempore Secretariat's Activities
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Encuentro de Ministros de Cultura y de Responsables de Políticas Culturales de América Latina y el Caribe VI- REPORT ON THE PRO—TEMPORE SECRETARIAT'S ACTIVITIES 84 Encuentro de Ministros de Cultura y de Responsables de Políticas Culturales de América Latina y el Caribe REPORT ON THE 1991/1992 ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRO-TEMPORE SECRETARIAT 85 I. INTRODUCTION This report describes the initiatives and the results obtained during the period in which Venezuela has been Venue of the Pro-Tempore Secretariat of the Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Responsible for Cultural Policies of Latin America and the Caribbean. It represents a compilation of the information sent in by the countries. We have organized the document as follows: 1st: We include a group of considerations on the evolution of the mechanisms and the progress made in the process of cultural integration of the region. 2nd: We describe in detail the different parts of the Action Plan for the 1991-92 Period approved by the IV Meeting in Havana. Cuba. September 1992. Further, on we refer specifically to advances in the program actions, to the activity of the Collegiate Secretariat and to the nature and developments of the Caracas, Margarita. Santiago, Chile and Quito Meetings. A classification by programs of tonic approaches was made and a final balance was drawn up summarizing what has been implemented and what is pending implementation. 86 II. ADVANCES IN THE PROCESS OF CULTURAL INTEGRATION IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN We reach the Vth Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Responsible for Cultural Policies of Latin America and the Caribbean with a highly positive balance insofar as the consolidation of these yearly meetings, as well as the progress made in the process of approximation and identification between the countries of the different parts of the region, giving us the opportunity to gain knowledge on the problems involved in strategy and program design, project formulation and structuring work mechanisms with their ever growing level of efficiency and specialization, so that we may act in concert and within a regional scope in the cultural sphere. Since our meeting in Brasilia in 1989, and the subsequent meetings in Mar del Plata, Mexico City, Havana and now Caracas, there has been a continuous and sustained collective effort to find the keys to foster our mutual understanding and integration, forming a single will with a view to reaffirming our identity. We can state that we have grown both in quality and quantity. The existence of subregional groupings in the area and the reality they represent far from being an obstacle to interaction in the Meetings, have proven positive in our case, as these groupings, motivated and organized around different types of factors, have served to focus attention and inject fluidity into our dialogue. These cultural realities which emerge from the origin and development of our historical process have generated a group of initiatives which benefits the global process. Cases in point are the processes underway in the Southern Cone. Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean area, interalia. Specific examples of the advances mentioned above are observations that the main issues involved in the cultural scene concern us all, giving us the opportunity to advance from an exhaustive inventory of projects to attend to, to a stage of classification by major topics and the outline of a certain priority assigned to them. This gives us the opportunity to broaden the process of cultural integration gradually and systematically from different vantage points, because it represents the greatest challenge before the region and the great goal we have set for ourselves. 87 This accomplishment of the political action immediately generated the need to review and improve working mechanisms making them the expression of the unity of criteria attained and a solution of continuity winch has not been affected by the successive transfers of venue of the Pro-Tempore Secretariat. Determinant in maintaining this continuity was the collegiate nature of the Pro-Tempore Secretariat and the harmony which exists between its members: a reflection of the existence of the Forum of Ministers and Responsible for Culture of the region. It is therefore vital for the continued progress of the mechanism to broach the possibility to formalize it as a collective body considering that historically the benefits of this modality have been demonstrated by otter experiences in the international community. In this Vth testing, we should seek to find a practical solution to this point with a view to strengthening our great strategic projects which serve to further the cultural integration to which we are all committed. 88 III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACTION PLAN (1991-1992 PERIOD) APPROVED BY THE IV MEETING OF MINISTERS OF CULTURE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR CULTURAL POLICIES OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN The Pro-Tempore Secretariat, at the request of the Ministers during the IV Meeting, agreed to organize a meeting in Margarita, Venezuela, charged with the task of setting the priorities for the projects in progress which also pursued general purposes of joint action. It was also suggested that the possibility of formalizing the liason, coordination and implementation mechanisms of the Meetings should be explored, consistent with a formulae to guarantee the principles which govern the meetings. In carrying out this mandate, the Venue Secretariat, convened a meeting in Caracas of the collegiate mechanism last December 1991, with a view to preparing the documentation for submission to the consideration of the Special Meeting in Margarita in February. The Caracas meeting was attended by the representatives of Mexico, Cuba, Chile and Venezuela with the support of the Andres Bello Convention (SECAB), CELARG, and UNESCO. Representatives from Antigua, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela, and the following international agencies: ALADI, CARICOM, CERLALC, SELA, UNESCO, UNESCO/CRESALC and SECAB participated in the Margarita Meeting. The above mentioned documents were discussed by the meeting, and resulted in a revised text of the Ministerial mandate. Later, a third meeting of the Collegiate Pro-Tempore Secretariat was convened in Santiago, Chile, following the recommendation made by the Margarita meeting and charged with the task of refining the options to be submitted to the Vth Meeting and, in addition, to prepare a recommendation for the Ministers to consider the possibility of formalization of the mechanism and the establishment of a Cultural Information System for Latin America and the Caribbean, as the first priorities. The recommendation is that it should be implemented gradually according to a strategy which takes account of the capacities and potentials of the individual countries. 89 It is important to note the participation of the Venue Pro- Tempore Secretariat in the XXVI General Conference of UNESCO in Paris, last October 1991. By mandate of the IV Meeting, a series of proposals were put before the Cultural Commission with the support of GRULAC (Latin America and Caribbean Group) which are set forth in Program III.I of 26C/5: International Cooperation, Preservation and Enrichment of Cultural Identities and the World Decade of Cultural Development Specific reference is made to the Forum of Ministers and to the decisions adopted by that body. This provided the opportunity to request financing for the Cultural Information System project and for the Regional Fund for the Promotion of Culture and the Arts. (The relevant resolutions are attached). Because of the short time between the IV Meeting of Ministers and the General Conference of UNESCO, it was not possible to submit a draft resolution to the Assembly setting forth the advances made in the process of cultural integration with each successive fora and opening up the opportunity of gaining access to regular program funds and to the participation program. In support of the request made, the report of IV Meeting was received in person by the Director General of UNESCO. Dr. Federico Mayor, who took, the opportunity to express his support and committed himself to promote the implementation of the plans drawn up by this mechanism. We would now like to refer to the Action Plan and make an approximation to the great topics it includes. The table reflects the level of implementation of each project and/or strategy. 90 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN OF ACTION 1991 - 1992 Encuentro de Ministros de Cultura Topic: ADMINISTRATION AND CULTURAL MANAGEMENT y de Responsables de Políticas Culturales de América Latina y el Caribe STRATEGIES AND/ LEVEL OF IMPLEMENTATION OR PROJECTS Workshop-Seminar Held in Quito, Ecuador from July 27-29, CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND 1992 and organized by the National Council INTEGRATION for Culture of Ecuador in conjunction with SECAB and IADAP. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela participated in the event. International Seminar Held in Santiago de Chile from October 5-7, on ADMINISTRATION AND 1992 and organized by the Chilean Ministry CULTURAL MANAGEMENT of Education and Culture. Representatives from the following countries participated therein: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Spain, Uruguay, U.S.A., and Venezuela, as