The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions importance of States parties taking measures, individually and collectively, for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions on both the national and international levels. It complements the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, which in Article 4 states “The defense of cultural diversity is an ethical imperative, inseparable from respect for human dignity” and in Article 5 states “Cultural rights are an integral part of human rights, which are universal, indivisible and interdependent.” It also emphasizes the importance of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The Convention was adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its 33rd session in 2005. It entered into force in 2007 after 30 States had ratified or acceded to it. The Convention established the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural ExpressionsI (“Intergovernmental Committee”). This Committee was established within UNESCO to promote the objectives of the Convention and to encourage and monitor its implementation.
Canada, as one of the initiators of the Convention, accepted it on 28 November 2005.