The Intergovernmental Committee of the 2005 Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions met at UNESCO HQ from 11 to 14 December 2018. Several members of the IFCCD were present.

During its 12th session, the Committee adopted revisions to the operational guidelines on Article 9 (“Information sharing and transparency”), including the framework for Quadrennial Periodic Reports. The purpose of this revision is to harmonize the periodic reporting framework with the monitoring framework of the 2005 Convention. The Committee also approved a roadmap to implement the operational guidelines concerning the Convention in the digital environment and the new projects to be financed under the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD). It discussed a stakeholder outreach strategy for the 2005 Convention and finalized its report on activities to be presented to the seventh session of the Conference of Parties.

A new series of public talks entitled Create|2030 was launched in the framework of the Committee in order to align its debates with the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals. This year four Create|2030 Talks were organized:

• SDG 5: “You Are Next. Empowering women in the digital arts” (11 December, 3pm)
• SDG 8: “Artificial intelligence: a new working environment for creators” (13 December, 10am)
• SDG 16: “What is artistic freedom to you?” (13 December, 3pm)
• SDG 17: “Civil Society:  a partner for change in the governance of culture” (14 December, 10am)