Burkina Faso and city of Ouagadougou kick-off workshop for the Culture|2030 Indicators

UNESCO, Burkina Faso and Ouagadougou city organized the Launch Workshop of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators’ project implementation, 7 October 2021.

The pilot implementation of the Culture|2030 Indicators’ framework has been launched in Burkina Faso and in Ouagadougou city. The launch workshop was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Tourism and the Mayor Office of Ouagadougou city, in close collaboration with UNESCO, on 7 October 2021 at the Town Hall’s Conference Room, and gathered 60 participants, including representatives and 22 different Agencies and institutions from the National and Local Authorities, as well as civil society organizations, academia, private sector, and other competent entities whose work is informed by culture.

In line with UNESCO’s commitment to advocate for the essential role of culture in sustainable development, the UNESCO Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development (Culture|2030 Indicators) is a conceptual and methodological framework of thematic indicators whose purpose is to measure and monitor the progress of culture’s enabling contribution to the national and local implementation of the Goals and Targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The framework has been developed by UNESCO in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), with the aim to assess both culture’s role as a sector of activity, as well as the transversal contribution of culture across different SDGs and policy areas. The UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators framework maps the SDGs in 22 Indicators, across four thematic Dimensions: Environment & Resilience, Prosperity & Livelihood, Knowledge & Skills, and Inclusion & Participation.

The project’s framework and methodology make culture visible, provide a thematic overview, build messages and advocacy, inform national and local policies and actions, help understanding trends and build knowledge, and monitor the global progress of culture in the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

The project benefits from capacity building materials led and delivered by UNESCO, as well as from the guidance and technical support of the UNESCO International and Regional Experts in close collaboration with the National and Local Authorities’ implementation Teams, at country and city levels. The implementation of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators in Burkina Faso and Ouagadougou city was made possible thanks to the generous financial contribution of the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), with additional resources for national and local implementation from the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Tourism. The said project is implemented in close cooperation with the UNESCO Dakar Field Office, and the Burkina Faso National Commission for UNESCO.

The Workshop introduced the methodology of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators framework, and shared capacity building materials with the authorities and actors. The UNESCO Regional Expert also shared trends and experiences of the process of collecting resources and analyzing Data.

Her Excellency Ms. Foniyama Elise THIOMBIANO/ILBOUDO , the Minister of Culture, Arts, and Tourism of Burkina Faso, and the Mayor Armand Roland Pierre BÉOUINDÉ of Ouagadougou City, delivered the welcoming messages for the workshop.

Mr. Ernesto Ottone R. , the Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Culture, shared  introductory remarks on the UNESCO Culture 2030 Indicators project. He explained the development of the methodology, the framework itself, and the major implementation steps at national and local levels. He also addressed how these voluntary indicators contributed to the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs, at the national and local levels, as well as to the National Voluntary Reviews and Local Voluntary Reports for countries and cities.

An introduction to the methodology of the framework, prepared by UNESCO, was presented by the UNESCO Regional Expert, Mr. Namaro YAGO.

During the Workshop, the UNESCO Regional Expert, the involved National and Local Authorities, and various actors exchanged and discussed the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators from different perspectives and through its 22 Indicators and its 4 Dimensions.

The meeting was closed by Her Excellency Ms. Foniyama Elise THIOMBIANO/ILBOUDO, the Minister of Culture, Arts, and Tourism of Burkina Faso. She thanked all the Participants, and highlighted the importance of the said Workshop to introduce the 22 Indicators’ framework to all the involved Parties. She also shed light on the fact that “the outcomes of the said project will inform the public policies on future actions, will build a knowledge platform for enhancing culture, will reinforce  advocacy for culture, and will contribute to enhancing and monitoring the progress of the culture’s contribution to the United Nations 2030 Agenda”.

For further information on the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators project, we invite you to explore the following webpage: UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators