In the Declaration, the fruit of ten months of multilateral negotiations led by UNESCO, States affirm for the first time that culture is a “global public good”. Consequently, States call for culture to be included “as a specific objective in its own right” among the next United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The text defines a set of cultural rights that need to be taken into account in public policies, ranging from the social and economic rights of artists, to artistic freedom, the right of indigenous communities to safeguard and transmit their ancestral knowledge, and the protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage.

It also calls for substantial regulation of the digital sector, notably of the major platforms, for the benefit of online cultural diversity, artists’ intellectual property rights and fair access to content for all.