ACP Cultures+
Culture is one of the 5 areas of priority of cooperation between the EU and the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to support sustainable development, under the Cotonou Agreement.
55 of the 79 ACP countries are parties to the 2005 Convention:
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zimbabwe
The intra-ACP dimension allows the strengthening of ties and exchanges between operators from different countries, pooling means and resources, expanding audiences and enhancing cultural diversity
The overall objective of the ACP Cultures + programme (2012-17) is to increase the contribution of cultural activity sectors in the fight against poverty and the socio-economic and sustainable development of the partner countries, through targeted structuring of sectors and a better circulation of works and dissemination of culture in ACP countries, also preserving cultural diversity.
Specific objectives are to: strengthen the creation and production of cultural goods and services of the ACP States in an integrated approach with distribution circuits; support better strengthened access to local, regional, intra-ACP, European and international markets for cultural goods and services of the ACP States; strengthen the capacity of stakeholders, operators and cultural entrepreneurs in ACP countries; contribute to the improvement of the regulatory environment for cultural sectors within ACP countries.
The ACP Cultures + programme is implemented by the ACP Secretariat, mainly through a support fund to provide grants to the cultural sector, which finance: :
- support for the production and the creation of cultural works from all sectors and their distribution in local markets and the international market;
- support for the marketing and promotion of ACP cultural goods and services in any sector and at regional, intra-ACP and international levels;
- technical and entrepreneurial level training activities to enhance the expertise and capacity of the ACP agents therefore increasing their share in the value chain of cultural products.
The Programme budget allocates 61% of the amount of subsidies to film and broadcasting sectors and 39% to other sectors. The sectors covered by the programme were specified in the guidelines, which indicate that the eligible areas are "all areas of cultural and artistic expression such as: theatre, music, dance, oral and written literature, books and publishing, visual arts, photography, applied arts, plastic arts and the performing arts, the development of tangible and intangible heritage, architecture, design, fashion, crafts, and cultural tourism".
The mid-term evaluation (2016) showed that the Intra-ACP programme is fully relevant for the development cooperation strategies and support to culture from ACP countries and EU. The amount spent e.g. on cinematographic and audio-visual sectors are significant and supported more than 50 projects, following 2 calls for proposals, involving more than 200 operators.
Established partnerships have resulted in lasting collaborations and exchanges between operators from different countries, strengthening impact, and taking advantage of synergies in production, technical skills, circulation and market access.
For the cinema and audio-visual sector, the results show the programme had a positive impact, namely in the production capacity, technical skills and quality of the works.
The programme also had good results in terms of production quality, eg. in arts including music. Dance and theatre showed positive results as regards national and international circulation, with a large number of representations both in ACP countries and in Europe. Circulation and visibility of ACP works has also increased.
EUR 30 million, 10th European Development Fund (EDF), 2011-19
The budget allocated to the support fund is € 23.5 million.
See the section on "Expected Results".