PRESS RELEASE
Council of Europe Press Division
Ref: 458a05
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
[email protected]
internet:
The STAGE Project: cultural policies to foster increased democratic
stability in the southern Caucasus
Strasbourg, 12.09.2005 – “Culture and cultural policies for development”
will be the main theme of a meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the
south Caucasian countries held by the Council of Europe in Kyiv on 15
and 16 September at the invitation of the Ukrainian authorities.
This is the 5th ministerial colloquy to be held as part of the STAGE
Project (*), which is intended to promote cultural exchanges between
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and help strengthen democracy there. In
this year in which we have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
European Cultural Convention, the colloquy will be open to all 48
signatories.
It will be opened by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the Deputy Secretary
General of the Council of Europe, and Joaquim Duarte, the Portuguese
Ambassador to the Council of Europe (representing the Council of
Europe’s Committee of Ministers), at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 15 September.
Cultural diversity and social cohesion, cultural funding and cultural
tourism are some of the items on the agenda of the colloquy, during
which the Ministers of Culture present will also be reviewing the STAGE
Project’s progress since 2004 (on the basis of an evaluation report
drawn up by Terry Sandell, the project’s main advisor) and will decide
on the main lines of the follow-up activities to foster the development
of national cultural policies.
The colloquy will be open to the press and will take place in the
Ukrainian House arts centre (Khreshchatyk 2, Kyiv) on Thursday, 15 and
Friday, 16 September from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A final declaration will be adopted at the end of the colloquy and
presented at a press conference to be held on Friday 16 September at
6.30 p.m.
More information is available on and
(see site for accreditations).
Contacts:
Alisa Moldavanova, press officer, Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and
Tourism
Tel./fax +38 044 235 22 33, e-mail [email protected]
Estelle Steiner, press officer, Council of Europe
Tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 33 35, mobile +33 (0)6 08 46 01 57, e-mail
[email protected]
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(*)The STAGE Project (Support for Transition in the Arts and Culture in
Greater Europe) involves the three participating south Caucasian
countries and observer and donor countries (Germany, Austria, Greece,
the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine).
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member states.