Important follow up meeting in Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa Group Forms International Alliance of Culture Ministers

Ottawa, June 30, 1998 - Culture Ministers from 20 countries today launched a new international network to promote and protect cultural diversity. This nmajor initative resulated from the International Meeting on Cultural Policy, held in Ottawa. Mexico will host the second Meeting in 1999, followed by Greece in 2000.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Ms Sheila Copps, was hosting the follow up meeting in Ottawa. Here she addresses the participants - collegues and NGO:s - at a welcome dinner in the Museum of Heritage. "We have good relations to our neighbours", she said not to be misunderstood.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, stated, "Canadians are delighted that we´ve found so many other countries that share our determination to put culture front and centre on the globe stage and to promote cultural diversity foe everyone in the world."

Acting on a proposal from Sweden, the Ottawa Meetingt decided to form a "contact group" to coordinate activities of the network. The initial members of the contact group will be Sweden, Mexico, Greece and Canada. Canada will provide the group secretariat for the first year.

During the course of the Meeting, the Ottawa Group of Ministers agreed to several specific actions.

• Broadcasting leaders will be asked to examine the concept of a global cultural diversity television initiative;
• The World Bank has initiated a lending program for culture and development and will host its first ever conference on this matter, in Washington in September;
• Ministers will work with the Organization of American States to develop its first ever cultural plan;
• Croatia will host a world meeting on culture and violence;
• Canada will host a mission from South Africa on cultural policy and broadcasting;
• Barbados will make cultural diversity the central theme at this Octobers´s Forum Latin American and Carribean Ministers engage in a cultural policy;
• The CBC will lead an international project to build a network of cultural web sites;
• Ministers will cooperate in enhancing the UNESCO/Council of Europe CULTURELINK web site, located in Zagreb;
• Ministers will support international comparative research;
• Ministers will forge new partnerships with NGOs from around the globe.

Further initatives will be announced in the months to come.

"Culture is an integral part of foreign policy", says Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, adding that "cultural initatives can be very effective in raising awareness of issues or highlighting the diversity of our globe. It was good to bring together Culture Ministers to talk about these ideas and find new ways to work co-peratively."

Contact: Jacques Lefebvre Senior Communications Advisor Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage (819) 997-7788

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