Culture and Development

Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Respect for cultural diversity promotes vibrant and inclusive societies.

The Government of Mozambique has joined hands with local communities, NGOs, civil society organizations and the private sector to rescue, revive and promote creative cultural traditions in four provinces, using them as a catalyst for social and economic development. Bosnia and Herzegovina is adopting a similar approach using education and behavioral change communication to promote interethnic dialogue to positively highlight the country’s multicultural identity.

Our work in this area focuses on cultural rights, social inclusion and increasing the cultural heritage and tourism potential of country’s with the aim of reducing poverty, increasing employment and improving socio-economic opportunities for the marginalized segments of the population. We work with indigenous and ethnic groups and governments to increase cross-cultural understanding within countries notably at the community level.

We support 18 joint programmes with a financial allocation of US$95.6 million. These efforts contribute to the MDG goal of halving proportion of people whose income is less than $1.00 a day by 2015 giving special attention to the participation of women in these efforts.