INTRODUCTION
Through the Group of Twenty (G20) Culture Working Group (CWG), the South African Presidency aims to emphasise the importance of achieving the SDGs, as well as the aspirations of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. This includes addressing and tackling socio-economic challenges in the global South and supporting solidarity efforts to enable an inclusive multilateral dialogue, encompassing the perspectives from global North and global South countries towards achieving increased equality in dignity and rights among and within countries.
The role of culture as a key driver for inclusive sustainable development, contributing directly and indirectly to the implementation of the SDGs, is now widely acknowledged by the international community, including as part of the G20 and other global and regional fora. The inclusion of culture in the Pact for the Future, adopted in September 2024, also reflects this global commitment.
Culture also promotes inclusive economic growth while fostering innovation, creativity, equity and social cohesion and ensuring that a diversity of cultural expressions flourishes in a globalised world. As of 2022, the cultural and creative sector accounts for 3.1% of global gross domestic product and supports nearly 50 million jobs worldwide, representing 6.2% of all employment. The cultural and creative sector also has a higher representation of youth and women than other sectors, thereby contributing to greater equality. The aspiration to achieve a more inclusive and balanced trade of cultural goods and services worldwide is also fundamental to fostering greater equality, noting that 95% of international trade in this sector originates from countries in the global North. In this context, the role of the G20 cannot be overemphasised with regards to the African Continental Free Trade Area, which needs to be realised, and implementation mechanisms have to be put in place within all African Union (AU) member states.
Echoing such momentum, the Final Declaration of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO) World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT 2022) calls to position culture as a stand-alone goal in the international development agenda beyond 2030 for its impact on social development, economic growth, environmental sustainability, peace and security—a call that was reiterated across the G20 CWG and beyond. The declaration acknowledged culture as a global public good, providing the international community with an important principle to position culture as a structuring element for sustainable development in the discussions of the Post-2030 Agenda. The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration adopted the following strategic areas of policy engagement for the future:
- cultural rights
- culture and the digital transformation
- culture and climate action
- the economy of culture
- culture, heritage and crisis
- culture and education.
The G20, under the presidency of South Africa, has identified the following priority areas to guide dialogue within the G20 CWG:
Priority 1:Â Safeguarding and Restitution of Cultural Heritage to protect Human Rights
Priority 2: Integrating Cultural Policies in socio-economic strategies to ensure an Inclusive, Rights-based Development
Priority 3: Harnessing Digital Technologies for the Protection and Promotion of Culture and Sustainable Economies
Priority 4: The Intersection of Culture and Climate Change: Shaping Global Responses
The G20 CWG will consider these as we engage on identified priority areas under the South African Presidency.
DELIVERABLES
Around the four aforementioned priorities of the G20 South African Presidency, the following deliverables could be considered:
- A G20 Side Event at MONDIACULT 2025 – UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (29 September to 1 October 2025).
- Online thematic workshops bringing together experts designated by all members of the group, with a view to foster inclusive dialogue, build knowledge and share good practices among the membership, while also informing the preparation of the Ministerial Declaration, which may lead to a synthetic publication encompassing the main policy outcomes of the 2025 G20 CWG. Two thematic focuses are identified in particular at this stage: Culture for Climate Action, and the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property to effectively implement the UNESCO 1970 Convention in the G20 countries.
- Side events organised on the margins of the meetings of the G20 CWG in relation to the four priorities, engaging both national and local stakeholders as well as representatives of the membership towards an inclusive dialogue, which could include a training component.
- A calendar of existing festivals, exchange programmes, artistic-cultural residencies in the G20 countries to promote dialogue and cultural diplomacy across the membership.
The deliverables will be implemented in cooperation with UNESCO as Lead Knowledge Partner, and other partners as appropriate.
