New York - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
UNESCO has published a report calling on countries to strengthen the protection of artists and professionals working in the culture sector in emergencies, and has announced a new investment of $1 million to fund projects supporting artistic freedom in more than 25 countries. According to the United Nations Daily Bulletin, a copy of which we received by e-mail this Friday morning, the report, issued on the occasion of the World Summit on Arts and Culture, recommended the development of new policies for monitoring and providing emergency assistance to artists at risk.
According to a UNESCO press release, the report states that emergencies such as armed conflict, unstable political situations and natural disasters exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities.
Artists face multiple threats from online and offline abuse to massive loss of income, prosecution, violence, censorship and muzzling. Artists often lack safety nets.
The report recommends that the international community allocate assistance to protect and promote artistic freedom in emergency situations based on UNESCO's experience in protecting artists during conflicts, as is the case recently in Iraq, Ukraine and Yemen.

An investment to enhance the protection of the status of artists
With the aim of the report to improve the resilience of artists in the context of emergencies, UNESCO today announced that an additional $1 million will be invested from the UNESCO-Ashberg Program for Artists and Culture Professionals to fund projects in more than 25 countries, divided into 13 government and 12 NGO projects. Non governmental.
The UNESCO statement stated that a group of governments will receive the necessary technical assistance to develop laws, regulations and policies that serve artistic freedom and decent works and improve the status of artists and workers in the field of culture.
These governments include Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Ghana and Senegal.
Several civil society organizations will receive financial assistance to conduct training or advocacy activities, undertake monitoring activities, and conduct research in the area of artistic freedom and status of artists.
Among these organizations are the MEMS Technical Initiative in Yemen, Action for Hope in Sudan and South Sudan, and other organizations in several countries, including Georgia, Brazil, Kenya and Ethiopia.