d_ Other Documents and Activities of 2017

d_ Other Documents and Activities of 2017

The HLPF 2017 Ministerial Declaration was adopted on July 31, 2017, consisting of 30 paragraphs that frame the commitments and assessments related to the 2030 Agenda around the theme of ‘Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity’.

As for the presence of culture, this is similar to the previous year, with paragraph 8 including mentions of cultural issues, although not specifically dedicated to the theme: “[We] commit ourselves to embracing diversity in cities and human settlements, to strengthening social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and understanding, tolerance, mutual respect, gender equality, innovation, entrepreneurship, inclusion, identity and safety, and the dignity of all people, as well as to fostering liveability and a vibrant urban economy. We also commit ourselves to taking steps to ensure that our local institutions promote pluralism and peaceful coexistence within increasingly heterogeneous and multicultural societies”.

Among the 143 inputs made to HLPF 2017, beside the 43 national inputs (VNRs), there are 40 from Intergovernmental Forums and Bodies, 30 from Major Groups and Other Stakeholders (MGoS), and 30 from Partnerships and Voluntary Commitments. Some inputs with noteworthy culture references among the 74 results yielded by a ‘culture’ keyword search (based on the summary page, unless only the full report is available) include: • Major Group: Indigenous Peoples (mention in context of land, as key theme; multiple minor references to culture) • Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) (multiple minor references to culture) • World Water Council (includes UNESCO) • KEPA (Finnish Service Centre for Development Cooperation) (reference to culture in defining Finland success factor) • Major Group: NGOs (a few minor references to culture) • Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO (identification of its natural and cultural resources for ecotourism) • UN Forum on Forests (a few minor references to culture) • UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) (multiple minor references to culture) • Volunteers Groups (a few minor references to culture)

Beside the HLPF, two noteworthy events were the UN Conference “Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14” (Ocean Conference 2017), held on 5-9 June 2017 in New York and the UCLG 2nd Culture Summit, held in May 2017 in Jeju Island, R. Korea.

In 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights published two reports that addressed the rise of fundamentalism and extremism, in diverse forms, and their grave impact on the enjoyment of cultural rights. She stressed that these represent major threats to universal human rights worldwide and a growing challenge that must be faced with urgency, using a human rights approach. The first report was devoted to the impact of fundamentalism and extremism on the enjoyment of cultural rights in general while the second report focused on the impact of fundamentalism and extremism on the cultural rights of women. The Special Rapporteur stresses the centrality of cultural rights in combating fundamentalism and extremism, stating that arts, education, science and culture are critical to creating alternatives, making space for peaceful contestation, promoting inclusion and protecting youth from radicalization. She makes a number of recommendations, including a call to the international community to give much more consideration to the local opponents of fundamentalism and extremism, human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, in international gatherings to discuss strategy on how to battle these ideologies.