The first EaP Ministerial Conference on Culture took place in Tbilisi

The conference was aimed at reaffirming the role of culture in human and socio-economic development, as well as in political reforms.

On 27-28 June 2013 the first Eastern Partnership Ministerial Conference on Culture was held in Tbilisi with the participation of Androulla Vassiliu, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

The conference was opened jointly by Guram Odisharia, Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia and Androulla Vassiliu, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

The conference, hosted by the Government of Georgia, gathered several Ministers from Eastern Partnership countries and the EU, representatives of local and regional authorities, of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, as well as other civil society stakeholders. The conference allowed for an open, informal exchange about the challenges faced by Partners in promoting a broad, strategic vision of culture and provided an opportunity to assess the impact of the Eastern Partnership Culture programme, which involves the EU, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Since 2011, it has provided €9 million in support for cultural cooperation projects and €3 million for strengthening the work of public authorities. The conference underlined the need for reform in cultural policies, to improve inter-Ministerial cooperation and to take more account of the broad contribution of culture to growth and stability in the region.

The Ministers and Heads of delegations participating in the first Eastern Partnership Ministerial Conference on Culture adopted the Tbilisi Declaration.

The €12 million Eastern Partnership Culture Programme aims at assisting the partner countries in their cultural policy reform at government level, as well as capacity building and improving professionalism of cultural operators in the region. It seeks to strengthen regional cultural links and dialogue within the Eastern Partnership region, and between the EU and ENP Eastern countries' cultural networks and actors. (EU Neighbourhood Info Centre).

According to ENPI-info.eu