Call for Applications 2024: UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity

Its purpose is to foster the emergence of dynamic cultural sectors in developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention, through strengthening the means to create, produce, distribute and have access to diverse cultural goods and services. As a multi-donor fund, the IFCD promotes South-South and North-South cooperation, while contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including gender equality and poverty reduction.

The IFCD invests in projects that lead to structural and sustainable change through:

• The introduction and/or elaboration of policies and mesures that have a direct effect on the creation, production, distribution of and access to a diversity of cultural expressions, including cultural goods, services and activities
• The reinforcement of human and institutional capacities of public sector and civil society organizations deemed necessary to support viable local and regional cultural industries and markets in developing countries.

Sectors of Intervention

• Projects may have a transversal (cultural policies or strategies, copyright, etc.) or sectoral focus. There are seven eligible sectors:
  • Audio-visual/cinema Design
  • Media arts
  • Music
  • Performing arts
  • Publishing
  • Visual arts

Funding Information

• US$ 100,000 is the maximum amount that can be requested
• Allocations will be sent in several installments:
  • Beginning of the project: 50%
  • Mid-way through the project: 30 %
  • Completion of the project: 20%
• Duration: 12 to 24 months

Eligible Projects

• Projects submitted by public authorities and institutions that:
  • Develop tools that contribute to decision-making and planning (mappings, sustainable statistical collection and processing systems, sectoral strategies, etc.)
  • Create and/or strengthen public cultural agencies and institutions essential to the development of cultural industries, including developing the expertise of civil servants
  • Establish and/or strengthen financing and market development mechanisms for cultural goods and services
  • Implement international cooperation agreements and treaties aimed at a more balanced exchange of cultural goods and services
  • Create and/or strengthen the pedagogical and organizational capacities of educational, vocational and technical training institutes in the cultural and creative sectors
  • Promote the development of cultural industries in the digital environment, in accordance with the roadmap for the Implementation of Guidelines to Promote the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the Digital Environment
  • Strengthen participation in cultural life, in particular measures to promote engagement of vulnerable groups (including persons belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples) in the creation, production, distribution and access to diverse cultural expressions
  • Create and implement measures or policies to promote gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors
• Projects submitted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that:
  • Strengthen capacities of civil society focusing on policy participation, communication and/or networking
  • Contribute to inform policy making, including monitoring and evaluation activities todetermine the impact of cultural policies and measures to promote cultural industries
  • Strengthen the pedagogical and organizational capacities of educational, vocational and technical training institutes in the cultural and creative sectors
  • Create new financing opportunities and promote access to national and international markets for cultural goods and services
  • Promote the development of cultural industries in the digital environment, in accordance with the roadmap for the Implementation of Guidelines to Promote the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the Digital Environment
  • Strengthen participation in cultural life, including measures to promote engagement of vulnerable groups (including persons belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples) in the creation, production, distribution and access to diverse cultural expressions
  • Create and implement measures to promote gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors
  • Develop tools that contribute to decision-making and planning (mappings, sustainable statistical collection and processing systems, sectoral strategies, etc.)
  • Create and/or strengthen public cultural agencies and institutions essential to the development of cultural industries, including developing the expertise of civil servants
  • Establish and/or strengthen financing and market development mechanisms for cultural goods and services
  • Implement international cooperation agreements and treaties aimed at a more balanced exchange of cultural goods and services
  • Create and/or strengthen the pedagogical and organizational capacities of educational, vocational and technical training institutes in the cultural and creative sectors
  • Promote the development of cultural industries in the digital environment, in accordance with the roadmap for the Implementation of Guidelines to Promote the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the Digital Environment
  • Strengthen participation in cultural life, in particular measures to promote engagement of vulnerable groups (including persons belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples) in the creation, production, distribution and access to diverse cultural expressions
  • Create and implement measures or policies to promote gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors

Ineligible Projects

• Projects exclusively aiming at the production of cultural and artistic works and events
• Projects related to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage
• Projects related to tangible cultural heritage including World Heritage sites
• Projects aimed at offsetting a deficit, repaying a debt or paying interest
• Projects exclusively financing permanent working spaces and/or equipment
• Projects that are conceived as scholarships or grants for personal needs
• Projects financing the physical construction or the restoration of buildings
• Projects that focus on primary and secondary school environments
• Projects sustaining ongoing activities with recurring costs
• Projects that focus on cultural tourism

Who can apply?

• Public authorities and institutions from eligible countries (developing countries, Parties to the 2005 Convention).
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from eligible countries (developing countries, Parties to the 2005 Convention).
• International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) registered in countries Parties to the 2005 Convention.

For more information, visit UNESCO.