Windhoek — THE establishment of a SADC Culture Fund to help promote art and culture and to mainstream regional heritage, are two of a number of priorities the ministers of culture from six Southern African countries last week identified.

This was announced in a statement after a one-day meeting last week in the capital, hosted by Namibia and South Africa.

It is general knowledge among Southern African art and cultural activists that SADC's Cultural Desk had been very ineffective in art and culture promotion over the years.

"The ministers resolved that culture and the arts are an important precondition for the pursuance and attainment of social cohesion and social justice. The meeting recognised and acknowledged that embracing cultural diversity should not lead to the exclusion and marginalisation of certain communities and people.

During discussions, the six ministers highlighted and urged the SADC secretariat, the African Union and NEPAD to put culture at the centre of development and that a follow-up workshop be held to intensely explore the position of culture.

In another resolution, the ministers expressed their unreserved support for the Heads of State next meeting in January 2006 in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum of which the theme will be 'Education and Culture.'

Further priorities the ministers identified include: the focus of cultural exchange between and among countries in the region, poverty eradication through arts and culture initiatives, underscoring the importance of cultural sensitivities, cultural knowledge and thought systems in the planning and development of human settlement, the undertaking of cultural studies and research, inter-dependency and unity within the region and the promotion of national identities.

Multilingualism and language development as critical elements for sustainable development were some of the undertakings that were reaffirmed by the ministers.

Additional initiatives were also highlighted, among which an audit and mapping of the region's cultural assets, the strengthening of copyright and intellectual property rights legislation, the establishment of a body to deal with traditional and geographical names, the doubling of efforts in promoting cultural industries within the context of creating jobs and alleviating poverty, the support of book fairs in the region, the encouragement of reading and the formation of structures for the conservation and preservation of tangible and intangible heritage.