ARTICLE " Culture as Pillar of Development Cooperation"

Brussels, 17 January 2015

Belgian launch of the European Year for Development 2015

Debate:" Culture as Pillar of Development Cooperation"

Investing in culture is equivalent to investing in human development…is essential as a basis for mutual respect, tolerance and, in my opinion, even for stability and peace…it is very important for young people to have the opportunity to discover culture at a very early age…

Her Majesty Mathilde, Queen of the Belgians, 2015.

…culture and development cooperation are two areas that are not only closely interlinked, but that also mutually influence each other.

          Alexander de Croo,  Minister of Development of Belgian, 2015

Culture is an expected  powerful tool to uphold human dignity, combat poverty, defend equality and prevent conflict.

Klaus Rudishauser, Deputy Directorate General on Commission's DG for International Cooperation and Development, 2015

After the official opening in Riga of the European Year for Development 2015 in the beginning of the year under the slogan "Our world, our dignity, our future", another flagship initiative took place: it was launched in Belgium!

As the first ever European Year to focus on external relations, "this European Year for Development provides us with a unique opportunity to explore new horizons". Aiming  to stimulate the active interest of European citizens and to raise awareness of the benefits of the Union's and the Member States' in development cooperation,  not only for beneficiaries of the Union's development assistance but also for Union citizens, and  to foster among citizens in Europe and developing countries a sense of joint responsibility, solidarity and opportunity as regards participation in policy formulation and implementation  in a changing and increasingly interdependent world, [1] 2015 will be a crucial year for the global development agenda. It is an opportunity to showcase the strong commitment of the EU and its Member States to eradicating poverty worldwide and promoting human development. The event was organised in January, month with a focus on Europe’s position in the world/ Global citizenship in the EYD thematic agenda.

The Belgian Foreign Ministry, with the support of European Union, worked with Africalia and BOZAR in this year’s launch that was held on the 17 of January and had two strands: the Afropean+ event and, a debate on the role of culture at the heart of ‎development cooperation, at the SQUARE [2].  Before an audience of hundreds of invited participants, themselves very engaged with the theme, the debate brought together representatives of the Belgian and African governments representatives, European Union and culture professionals, around the major issues that frame Culture as  an (underestimated) pillar in development cooperation.

The Opening Ceremony counted on the attendance of Her Majesty Mathilde, the Queen of the Belgians,  whose presence confirms and stresses the importance of this European Year  for Development. Queen Mathilde also privileged this event with a magnificent elocution highlighting the sense of Culture as «bildung»,  i.e. as education and training " visant à stimuler et à valoriser les talents des jeunes en créant un contexte qui leur permette de s’épanouir. L’art et la musique font partie intégrante de ce processus". Moreover, Her Majesty underlined as "very important for young people to have the opportunity to discover culture at a very early age. This exposure will arouse their interest and make them more aware of it later on". She also emphasised that culture is a valuable ally in the fight against poverty as Development assistance programs in this area contribute to the promotion and protection of freedom of artistic expression and democratic dialogue.

[1] Decision No 472/2014/Eu of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014

[2] Find out more in www.africalia.be

Find out more at http://www.bozar.be/afropean.html