A list of the community's
members you find
here.
The facilitation team's
contact details you find
here.
SDC Culture and Development Policy
The policy has three parts: Interculturality; support to arts and culture in the SDC's partner countries known as the cultural percent; and the culture programme in Switzerland. The SDC Culture and Development Policy you find
here
Who we are?
We are practitioners committed to tap the potential of arts and culture in our work at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
F2F in Zürich, 2020
F2F Culture, Governance and Democracy, Tunis 2022
Why we are here?
Culture matters for development. If you need to get convinced, you can of course look at the many
international references anchoring this statement, or simply think about your own experience. What influences more a society's ability to reinvent itself than culture? Who more than artists can lead us to feel and see things differently? What is development cooperation if not an intercultural dialogue? What would our daily life look like without the possibility to enjoy and find food for thoughts in a book, a play, a movie or music - or without the possibility to express ourselves in a creative, symoblic way?
Naturally, culture matters for SDC. SDC has always taken culture into account in its work, and has a long tradition in supporting cultural expressions, especially in their artistic form. In practice, at least 1% of SDC operational budget for programs is used to support culture "in and of" SDC partner countries.
Now beyond facts and statements: how do we at SDC integrate arts and culture in our activites in a way that makes sense and adds value towards our development objectives?
We are here to share good practice, learn from each other, and show how arts and culture make the difference for the people and the world we work for.
At a first face-to-face encounter after the COVID pause, SDC colleagues from the francophone Africa met in Tunis from Nov 1st-4th 2022 for the regional F2F Culture, Governance and Democracy. Taking culture as the starting point, interlinkages with relevant governance, human rights and gender topics were discussed and identified. What implications does a contested governance have on the arts and culture sector? How can arts and culture contribute to improve such contested situations? How can arts and culture improve social cohesion, peace or the advancement of human rights? How to raise and advance gender related issues through arts and culture? Together with 15 colleagues from the francophone Africa, Tunisian experts and SDC thematic advisors, engaged discussions took place and manifold synergies between the topics were identified. Watch some video statements of participants:
