The Diplomat
The Ministers of Culture of the European Union yesterday approved the Cáceres Declaration, by which they commit to defend culture as “an essential public good and a global public good at the highest political level” and to work to make it the eighteenth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
The Extremadura city hosted yesterday the informal meeting of Ministers of Culture, in which the 27 Member States unanimously pledged to “work to make culture a crucial element of policies for peaceful, just and egalitarian societies,” according to the Declaration.
“Culture plays an essential role in building democratic societies and in the personal development of citizens: culture is essential to achieve healthier, fairer, more just, critical, free, tolerant, inclusive and egalitarian societies,” the text continues. The ministers therefore pledge to “work for culture to be recognized in itself as a new sustainable development goal” and thus become the eighteenth Sustainable Development Goal in the post-2030 Agenda.
In his speech, the acting Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta, host of the meeting, said that “culture strengthens the European Union.” “We want culture to have the highest possible consideration in regional and state policies, as well as in European Union policies,” because “culture is crucial for building better societies and citizenships and for safeguarding our democracies,” he concluded.
