Albares presents a strategy to promote culture as a pillar of sustainable development and cooperation

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, presented this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers the new Culture and Sustainable Development Strategy of Spanish Cooperation, a document that promotes culture as a fundamental pillar for the construction of “fair” and “sustainable” societies.

As reported by Foreign Affairs in a statement, the minister has set up a roadmap to “guide the action of Spanish Cooperation towards achieving more just, inclusive, democratic and sustainable societies.” To do this, it will address culture as a fundamental pillar.

CULTURE, “ENGINE OF SOCIAL COHESION”

In this way, the document, which defines cooperation as “a tool to create bridges” and “reduce inequalities”, conceives culture as “a human right, a space for participation and dialogue, an engine of social cohesion and a tool for building peace.”

With this vision, the general objective is to promote the full exercise of cultural rights, promoting “cultural expressions in all their diversity.”

To achieve this, the Strategy is articulated in ten strategic lines. The first four focus on guaranteeing the cultural rights of all people, “promoting participation in cultural life, diversity and the fight against inequalities, as well as the incorporation of the feminist approach, and seeking to strengthen democracy, peacebuilding and social cohesion.”

Strategic lines 5 and 6 focus on the contribution of culture to economic and social development in the partner countries of Spanish Cooperation. For their part, lines 7, 8 and 9 address “key global challenges”, such as the protection of cultural heritage or the role of culture in the face of environmental and climate challenges.