This week, the 33rd General Conference of UNESCO examines the draft Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions.
The FIDH, which has followed the negotiation process, calls on States to show as much support as possible for this draft.
Although there are loopholes in the text, the draft Convention in fact provides the basis of an international law on cultural rights as fundamental human rights.
It establishes a system for protecting and promoting cultural diversity in the name of, and in accordance with the universal standards relating to human rights.
For example, the draft rejects cultural expressions as a market, and the primacy of the most powerful; just as it rejects cultural relativism, which is used to silence minority cultures.
"By its reference to universal human rights, the draft rejects two points of view; that of the merchant and that of the tyrant", Sidiki Kaba, President of the FIDH, emphasises.
Up till now the draft Convention has been received positively. The FIDH encourages States to commit themselves to the right to cultural diversity by voting wholeheartedly for the draft Convention at the General Conference of UNESCO.
The adoption of the draft Convention is a chance which should not be missed: the FIDH hopes that States will throw their weight behind it, in view of its urgent adoption and then its ratification.