Monaco has taken part in MONDIACULT 2025, UNESCO’s global conference on cultural policy, held in Barcelona from Monday, 29 September to Wednesday, 1 October.
The Principality was represented by H.E. Anne-Marie Boisbouvier, Monaco’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, and Sèverine Dusaintpère, Deputy Permanent Delegate. The event gathered delegates from more than 160 countries to debate how culture can be better integrated into the United Nations’ post-2030 development goals, a continuation of discussions first launched at MONDIACULT 2022 in Mexico.
Talks across six main themes tackled current cultural challenges, including “Culture for Peace” and “Culture and Artificial Intelligence.” Delegates adopted a Final Declaration pledging to strengthen the role of culture in national development strategies and crisis response policies — a promise that, for many, will now have to be tested in practice rather than rhetoric.
UNESCO also published its first Global Report on Cultural Policies, “Culture: The Missing SDG”, providing a worldwide snapshot of cultural policy trends. Monaco’s own data feature among the national reports that informed the study.
Another headline announcement was the creation of the Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Property, an online platform showcasing looted artefacts and using digital technology to combat the illicit trade in cultural goods, a growing international concern.
The conference followed the adoption of the UN Pact for the Future in 2024, which for the first time recognised culture as part of the sustainable development framework. Whether MONDIACULT 2025 will lead to tangible change remains to be seen, but the discussions marked another step in pushing culture up the global political agenda.
The next MONDIACULT conference will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2029.
