52/197 Cultural development

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 41/187 of 8 December 1986, in which it proclaimed the period 1988-1997 the World Decade for Cultural Development, 46/158 of 19 December 1991, in which it requested the Secretary-General to cooperate with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in establishing an independent World Commission on Culture and Development, and expected the World Commission to submit its final report to the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and to the United Nations General Assembly no later than three years after it began its work, and 51/179 of 16 December 1996, concerning the report of the World Commission,

Taking note of the fact that public opinion throughout the world, as well as Governments and non-governmental organizations, has become much more sensitive to the need for better integration of the cultural dimension into the entire development process,

Recognizing that this awareness of the central importance of culture is, nevertheless, insufficiently present in development policy and practice,

Acknowledging with satisfaction the active participation of Member States, United Nations bodies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals in the implementation of projects of national, regional and interregional scope, aiming at the promotion of the objectives of the Decade, and in the work of the World Commission and its follow-up,

Taking note of the first meeting of Ministers of Culture of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Medellín, Colombia, on 4 and 5 September 1997, ⁽⁹²⁾

1. Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General on the progress of the World Decade for Cultural Development during the period 1994-1997; ⁽⁹³⁾

2. Invites all Member States, intergovernmental bodies and organizations of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations:

(a) To ensure that the lessons and experiences gained and the momentum generated through the World Decade and the World Commission on Culture and Development are reflected in all their development strategies, as appropriate;

(b) To submit their comments to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, entitled Our Creative Diversity; ⁽⁹⁴⁾

(c) To intensify their efforts to integrate cultural factors into their development programmes and projects, so as to ensure sustainable development that fully respects cultural diversity, taking into account their cultural values and identity;

3. Stresses the importance of the question of interaction between culture and development, and encourages the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to accord priority to this theme in its work;

4. Encourages the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to pursue its ongoing task of promoting throughout the United Nations system a greater awareness of the crucial relationship between culture and development, taking into account the diversity of cultures;

5. Welcomes the convening in Stockholm in 1998 of an intergovernmental conference on cultural policies, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;

6. Requests the Secretary-General, in the elaboration of the international development strategy for the next United Nations development decade, to include recommendations for the integration of the cultural dimension in development activities;

7. Also requests the Secretary-General to include the outcome of the Stockholm conference in his report on the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session.

92. See A/52/432.

93. A/52/382.

94. Paris, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1996.