The Forum of Ministers of Culture and Officials in Charge of Cultural Policies of Latin America and the Caribbean, today the Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), was established in 1989 at the First Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the region held in Brazil. It is the oldest of its type and continues to be the space for reflection par excellence of the highest government authorities in charge of culture in the region, since it remains the only cultural context where all the Member States of Latin America and the Caribbean converge.

The Forum of Ministers of Culture and Officials in Charge of Cultural Policies of Latin America and the Caribbean, today the Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), was established in 1989 at the First Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the region held in Brazil. It is the oldest of its type and continues to be the space for reflection par excellence of the highest government authorities in charge of culture in the region, since it remains the only cultural context where all the Member States of Latin America and the Caribbean converge.

The Forum of Ministers of Culture and Officials in Charge of Cultural Policies of Latin America and the Caribbean, today the Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), was established in 1989 at the First Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the region held in Brazil. It is the oldest of its type and continues to be the space for reflection par excellence of the highest government authorities in charge of culture in the region, since it remains the only cultural context where all the Member States of Latin America and the Caribbean converge.

During this first meeting, senior officials in charge of cultural policies from 20 Member States in Latin America and the Caribbean reached a major consensus on themes that were novel for the time, such as the identification of the cultural dimension as an indispensable factor in the process of the political and economic integration of the region, the recognition of the ethnic, cultural and linguistic pluralities of their peoples, the need to preserve the historical and cultural identity, the natural landscape and the historic built heritage, in addition to movable heritage and tangible and intangible creations; the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property and the promotion of the return and restitution of this property to the heritage of its people, as well as the links between Science, Technology and Culture, among others.

A brief summary of the main activities developed by the Forum of Ministers of Culture would necessarily include the efforts to create a single cultural information system known as the Cultural Information System of Latin America and the Caribbean (SICLaC), developed by the Forum as of 1996, whose results may be clearly seen today in a group of Member States of the region. Furthermore, this experience would later lead to the creation of a Virtual Forum, immediate genesis of the current Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean (www.lacult.unesco.org).

Between 1999 and 2014, the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture facilitated, coordinated and funded from its headquarters in Havana the Forum’s Technical Secretariat, through a post created at the request of the Member States in the region.

Within the strategy of said Office, the Forum of Ministers, today the Meeting of CELAC Ministers of Culture, has become its main counterpart, since it provides UNESCO with a unique opportunity to interact with the leading cultural authorities in the region and promote the Conventions, concepts and priorities of the Organization.

The 24 Member States participating in the 19th Forum of Ministers of Culture and Officials in charge of Cultural Policies of Latin America and the Caribbean and the First Meeting of CELAC Ministers of Culture, held in March 2013 in Paramaribo, Suriname, decided to work progressively on the integration of the Forum and the Meeting into a single mechanism, starting with the meeting scheduled for 2014.

Likewise, they agreed that the Meetings of CELAC Ministers of Culture would adopt as their own the activities, as well as the agreements, projects and programmes of the Forum of Ministers of Culture, in order to ensure its continuity.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Cuba were the venues of the Second and Third Meetings of the CELAC Ministers of Culture in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, participated in the inauguration of the 3rd. Meeting of CELAC Ministers of Culture, held in Havana, on 18 September 2015. That same day, in the morning, the Director-General participated in the regional workshop organized by the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture, during which the Work Plan for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2016-2021 was discussed and validated, which will reinforce the implementation of the Organization’s Programme, as well as contribute to achieve the goals contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development parting from culture.