Mario Jean Dupuy, the Minister of Culture, returned home Monday after his participation at the 3rd meeting of ACP Ministers of Culture (Group Africa, Caribbean and Pacific), which was held in Brussels from 15 to 18 October 2012.

Under the theme "No future without culture," this third meeting of the Ministers of Culture, was an opportunity for the representatives of 79 member states of the ACP Group to reaffirm the principle of solidarity that unites them, of confirming the importance of the role of culture in sustainable development and to emphasize how cultural policies must be an essential component of development strategies of states.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers adopted the "Brussels Declaration", which comes to confirm, as acknowledged most of the participants, the good choice made by Haiti in the cultural sector. As shown the presentation made by the Minister Dupuy on the 4 pillars of his ministry, the National Program for Heritage Inventory (PRONIPAC), the training in favor of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) cultural, the cultural education in the school system and extracurricular and the studies on sectors economically viable.

This 3rd meeting allowed the representatives of the Member States to commit to develop awareness actions at national and regional level, to increase the visibility of the culture, its impact on the economic and social development in the public opinion and among a specialized audiences. It was also to strengthen the ties of South-South cooperation in the cultural field, through the CARICOM, for Haiti.

During this 3rd meeting, participants also unanimously adopted the "Declaration of Solidarity with the People of Mali." A country where some sites classified as national and global heritage of the UNESCO, have been destroyed by armed groups in the occupied territory in the north of the country.

HL/ HaitiLibre