By Fabian Hakalits in Guam
On the occasion of the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam, the urgent need for investment in human resources in the Pacific’s culture sector was discussed.
This week, the 27th Council of Pacific Arts and Culture Meeting looked at ways to preserve and promote culture.
Focus was on ‘Development of Cultural Industries in the Pacific Region’ that will require funding support from each government.
The importance of mainstreaming culture into the national trade policy frameworks and the ICT development are part of the recommendations to develop cultural industries. This will help support the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural intellectual properly.
Preserving culture through the education curriculum like that of the University of South Pacific’s Oceania Centre of Arts is one way to develop culture.
A recommendation is for Ministers to support the capacity building human resources including cultural statistics.
The council further recommends that Minister’s support their countries continued efforts in mainstreaming culture into disaster risk reduction and increase their capacity in this area.
