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Culturelink OCPA WWW Project
Background
The establishment of the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA) was proposed in May 2001, following a series of regional consultations and experts meetings organized jointly by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Ford Foundation and UNESCO, as a result of the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development (Stockholm, 1998), which proposed to "encourage the establishment of networks for research and information on cultural policies for development, including study of the establishment of an observatory of cultural policies".
The Observatory was set up in 2002 with a view to monitor cultural trends and national cultural policies in the region and enhance their integration in human development strategies through advocacy, information, research, capacity building, networking, coordination and cooperation at the regional and international levels.
Strategy
As the Observatory was planned as a service-oriented resource centre and a regional coordinating and monitoring body for a network of experts and institutions involved in policy and decision making, cultural administration and management, research, training and information, the starting point, according to the work plan defined at the Cape Town meeting in May 2001, was to establish the Observatory's regional information gateway function through setting up the OCPA website, as the most practical and effective instrument for compiling and disseminating information.
In accordance with an Activity-Financing Contract, the task of developing, setting-up and hosting, as well as maintaining and updating the OCPA website has been entrusted to the Culturelink Network, the Observatory's cooperating partner.
Aims
The OCPA website represents a first step in establishing, developing and promoting the Observatory as a key regional resource centre for cultural policies in Africa, serving as a basis for the development of its permanent information resources and services, which shall include research activities, development of databases, an inventory of existing information sources, a newsletter, an information and discussion forum (listserv), press reviews, etc.
Objectives
The OCPA website was designed to serve as an information clearing house, an operational tool of wide support to the Observatory's objectives of
- collecting, maintaining, analyzing, updating and disseminating information on cultural development and cultural life in Africa within a global context,
- serving as a knowledge-based policy analysis mechanism and resource centre, developing integrated policy relevant information services, and
- stimulating the establishment of a network for information, research, training and cooperation among regional and national institutions, professional associations, individual experts and scientists interested in issues related to cultural policy in Africa.
Status
The Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa website was set-up as a key resource centre for collecting, processing and analyzing data, as well as disseminating coherent and up-to-date information on the realities, trends, new concepts, challenges, experiences and practice of cultural life and cultural development policies in Africa.
First established in July 2001, the site is hosted at the Culturelink Network server, located at the Institute for International Relations (IMO), Zagreb, Croatia, where it is regularly maintained, updated and further developed by the Culturelink Web Editor and Administrator (for more, see the Culturelink OCPA WWW Resource Centre Project Status and Development Report).
Contact
Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA)
Interim Secretariat
UNESCO Maputo Office
515, Av. Friedrich Engels
CP. 1397
tel.: 00 258 1 493 434
fax: 00 258 1 493 431
e-mail: l.mbuyamba@unesco.org
WWW: http://www.ocpanet.org/ or http://www.culturelink.org/ocpa/
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