Kiri

To: Ministers of Culture of Member States and Associate members of UNESCO 24 June 2024 Culture Sector The Assistant Director-General Ref.: CLT/ADG/24/51 Subject: Towards MONDIACULT 2025: Regional Consultations Sir/Madam, Further to my letter dated 13 May 2024, I am pleased to provide you with additional information on the preparation of Regional Consultations which will be conducted across all regions of the world in preparation to the UNESCO World Forum on Cultural Policies (MONDIACULT 2025), to be hosted in Barcelona, Spain, from 29 September to 1 October 2025. As you know, the Regional Consultations are the cornerstone of the inclusive and participatory preparation process leading up to the intergovernmental Conference. These consultation meetings will be held online and shall be of a multistakeholder nature, bringing together Member States, regional intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, UNESCO Chairs and category 2 centres relevant to the field of culture. The purpose of the Regional Consultations is to map priorities and trends pertaining to cultural policies and sustainable development within each of the regions. The preparation of the Regional Consultations will be informed by the outcomes of the three ongoing surveys – targeting respectively Member States, civil society organizations and artists and culture professionals – which aim to assess progress on the priorities set out in MONDIACULT 2022. The outcomes of the Regional Consultations – which will be summarized in a report to be examined by the 221st session of the UNESCO Executive Board in April 2025 – are intended to inform the preparation of the Conference, which will be fully supported by the UNESCO Secretariat. Echoing the process undertaken in the framework of MONDIACULT 2022, each Regional Consultation shall be chaired by a Member State, which may be supported by other Member States of the region acting as Vice-Chairs or Rapporteurs. Together, the concerned Member States will ensure leadership for the preparation and implementation of the regional consultations, facilitating an inclusive dialogue with other Member States of the region. In each of the regions, a team of UNESCO staff members from regional Offices will also be constituted to support the lead countries in the preparation and implementation of the regional consultations. In order to plan in a timely manner the implementation of the Regional Consultations – which are expected to be conducted as from November 2024 and no later than end-January 2025 –Member States are invited to inform the Secretariat by 31 August 2024 of the names of the Member States who will act respectively as chairs, vice-chairs and rapporteurs of the Regional Consultations in each of the regions. Please accept, Sir/Madam, the assurances of my highest consideration. Yours sincerely, Ernesto Ottone R. Cc: National Commissions for UNESCO Permanent Delegations to UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, Place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 68 07 94