The International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD) is the voice of cultural professionals around the world. It brings together some thirty organizations representing creators, artists, independent producers, distributors, broadcasters and publishers in the book, film, television, music, live performance and visual arts sectors.
The Federation is incorporated in Canada and its General Secretariat is located in Montreal. The French Coalition for Cultural Diversity represents the IFCCD at UNESCO in Paris.
History and Mission
History
The International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD) was created as a result of a major mobilization of civil society in favour of the adoption and subsequent ratification of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
The IFCCD was founded in Seville (Spain) on 19 September 2007 to replace the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC). This Committee was created in 2003 at the initiative of the Coalitions for Cultural Diversity to facilitate cooperation and the development of common positions and actions. In particular, the ILC encouraged the elaboration of UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions by coordinating the participation of civil society representatives and professionals from the cultural sector in international negotiation sessions.
Since its foundation, the IFCCD has organized several ratification campaigns for the Convention in Asia Pacific, South America, Europe and Africa, and has supported the organization of numerous events to promote the diversity of cultural expressions.
It held its international congress in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) in 2009, Bratislava (Slovakia) in 2012, Mons (Belgium) in 2015, Montreal (Canada) in 2018, Lomé (Togo) in 2019.
To know more about the history and the mission of the IFCCD, read the document A movement for the diversity of cultural expressions.
Mission
The IFCCD now has the task of coordinating civil society efforts for the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Article 11 of the Convention recognizes the fundamental role of civil society in protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions. Since its creation, the IFCCD has played a leading role within the platforms available to civil society to represent its voice in UNESCO’s governing bodies.
The IFCCD supports the action of its members through research, tools or events that enable civil society to ensure vigilance and participation in debates and work that have an impact on the diversity of cultural expressions: revision of laws on culture, trade negotiations, discoverability of local content, etc.
The IFCCD also promotes the participation and consultation of its members and civil society in the meetings of the Convention’s monitoring bodies.
Our work
At the Lomé Congress in October 2019, members defined the IFCCD’s priorities for the coming years.
Trade
• Inform civil society of the importance of cultural exemption clauses in international trade agreements;
• Ensure that all States refrain from making liberalization commitments on cultural goods and services during bilateral, regional or international trade negotiations.
Diversity of Expressions in the Digital Age
• Defend the capacity of governments to put in place policies to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions on the Web;
• Promote the availability and visibility of local cultural content;
• Contribute to the improvement of knowledge on the diversity of cultural expressions in the digital age in the field of data.
Mobilization of Civil Society
• Encourage and support the formation of national coalitions and national groupings committed to the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions;
• Support cooperation among members at the regional level to ensure that actions are implemented that respond to regional challenges;
• Mobilize research groups around the challenges of the diversity of cultural expressions, particularly the various UNESCO Chairs.
Links With UNESCO
• Ensure the active participation of the IFCCD in the implementation of the Convention;
• Involve the IFCCD in the work of the Convention’s monitoring bodies and support actions that strengthen its implementation at the national, regional and international levels.
Board of directors
Beat Santschi
Beat Santschi is President of the IFCCD and member of the Steering Committee of the Swiss Coalition for Cultural Diversity. Musician and cultural manager, graduate of the University of Zurich, the Jazzschule of Lucerne, the Guitar Institute of Technology of Los Angeles and the ZHAW Zentrum für Kulturmanagement, he is general secretary of the Swiss Musicians’ Union SMV-USDAM, vice-president of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), member of the Swissperform management committee and vice-president of the Swiss Cooperative of Performers (SIG).
Alejandra Diaz
Alejandra Díaz is the Vice-President of the Americas and representative of the Paraguayan Coalition for Cultural Diversity. Since 2005, she has supported the actions for the approval of the Convention, its ratification in Paraguay (LAW Nº 3229/2007), promoted the creation of the Paraguayan Coalition for Cultural Diversity (2006) and participation in the IFCCD World Congresses. Dancer, Choreographer and Teacher, she has created more than twelve original multidisciplinary independent works. Co-founder and artistic director of the Asociación Cultural Crear en Libertad (1996), member of the Mesa Técnica de Artes Escénicas of the Secretaria Nacional de Cultura Py (2018), she also collaborates in several international networks, such as the Ibero-American video-dance network REDIV, the Latin American festival network SINERGIA and the Ibero-American network EFIBERO.
Ray Argall
Ray Argall is Vice President Asia-Pacific of the IFCCD and Coordinator of the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity. A graduate of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, he has a productive career in film as a director, producer, director of photography, editor and writer of feature films, short films and documentaries. His first feature film, Return Home, received the 1990 AFI Award for Best Director, the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Director and Best Film. Ray Argall was President of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) from 2006 to 2015 where he represented Australian filmmakers in many forums.
Kodjo Cyriaque Noussouglo
Kodjo Cyriaque Noussouglo is Vice President for Africa of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity. A graduate of Senghor University in Alexandria and the University of Lomé, he is a teacher-researcher and an expert on heritage and cultural diversity. Director of the Filbleu Festival, he presides over the Togolese Coalition for Cultural Diversity and the FILBLEUES association, specialized in the organization of cultural events and artistic training. He is also the National Coordinator of the Reading and Cultural Animation Centers (CLAC) at the Togolese Ministry of Culture in Lomé.
Holly Aylett
Holly Aylett is Director of the British Coalition & Administrator of the IFCCD. She is a research fellow at Birkbeck College London. She qualified with an MA in English Literature at Cambridge University, then worked as an independent filmmaker before lecturing in film and cultural studies. She was founding editor of Vertigo, UK’s leading independent film quarterly, sat on the Cultural Committee of the UK National Commission for UNESCO and led the pan-European study “Where are the Women Directors?” on gender equality in film (European Women’s Audiovisual Network, 2016).
Guillaume Prieur
Guillaume Prieur is the secretary of the IFCCD. A graduate in public law from the University of Rouen and political science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, he is the Director of Institutional and European Affairs of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD), the oldest authors’ society in the world founded by Beaumarchais in 1777. He is the General Secretary of the French Coalition and the European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity.