The International Fund for Cultural Diversity: a new tool for cooperation in the audiovisual field

Abstract

This paper analyses the implementation of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD), emerged from the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO 2005). The uniqueness of this multilateral fund is that most of its resources are aimed at supporting actions of non-governmental organizations functioning within the fields of cultural policy and cultural industries in developing and underdeveloped countries. Through a thorough study of different decisions and documents, this text analyses the IFCD’s funding, the results of the first calls for initiatives and the support obtained by projects focused on the audiovisual industry. Conceived as an instrument to implement initiatives whose goal is to strengthen the cultural sphere of the poorest countries, the hitherto modest IFCD faces now questions about its future growth and effectiveness in terms of changing the existing imbalance at work within the flows of audiovisual content both regionally and internationally.