Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
IFLA's recent ResiliArt x Mondiacult event added a library perspective to a worldwide discussion on culture's role in tackling global challenges. The outcomes of this event will help inform the agenda of the upcoming UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, Mondiacult 2022.
IFLA welcomed the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights Alexandra Xanthaki as she addressed the Human Rights Council for the first time during their 49th Session. An IFLA representative sat down with the Special Rapporteur following her address to discuss priorities for the coming years and highlight the ways in which libraries work to uphold cultural rights for their communities.
The National Library of Lebanon, together with libraries, museums, heritage sites, and buildings throughout Beirut, sustained heavy damage caused by the explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020.
ResiliArt x Mondiacult is coming to IFLA! Take part in this exploration of how libraries help enable the discovery, creation, and enjoyment of diverse expressions of culture to be a part of everyday life.
UNESCO has published the call for cities interested in holding the title of World Book Capital 2024. The successful candidate will have a great opportunity to develop and showcase initiatives that promote reading and books, benefitting their own citizens, and offering inspiration to others elsewhere.
The 15th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions will be held online from 8 to 11 February 2022.
The UNESCO Online Consultation on Cultural Policies for the Africa Region was held on 31 January and 1 February, hosted by the Republic of Senegal. IFLA was represented, making the case for libraries to be involved, from the design to the delivery of cultural policies and strategies.
In September 2022, UNESCO will convene the World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – Mondiacult 2022, hosted in Mexico City. IFLA will help bring the voices of the library and information profession to these discussions is through an upcoming virtual event: ResiliArt x Mondiacult – Libraries enabling inclusive and meaningful access to culture.
On the International Day of Education (24 January), the UN calls for transformation – a reimagining of the world’s education systems to realise the fundamental right to education for all and build a more inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable future.
As the global voice of libraries, IFLA strives to bring a library perspective to discussions and processes relating to international cultural policy. 2022 presents important opportunities to bring library voices to the table and highlight libraries as stakeholders in the culture sector.
A new Culture2030Goal Campaign report explores how effectively local and regional governments are placing culture at the heart - and even the start - of their efforts to deliver on the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
UNESCO’s 41st General Conference has ended. This biennial meeting brings together representatives of the Member States, alongside observers from non-Member States, intergovernmental organisations, and non-governmental organisations, to determine the policies and the main lines of work of UNESCO.
IFLA was proud to join the Climate Heritage Network in a series of events that brought the voices of cultural heritage and cultural institutions to the table – highlighting the sector’s critical role in powering climate action.
The theme for this year’s World Digital Preservation Day (4 November) is: ’Breaking Down Barriers’.
Among the different types of human rights set out in international law, cultural rights have a particular relevance for libraries. Our institutions are key actors in guaranteeing the right of everyone to participate in cultural life, from creativity, to access, to the preservation of heritage. Professor Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights 2015-2021, focused on this topic in her keynote intervention at WLIC 2021.
Global leaders are coming together to discuss plans to achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions and to limit global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Alongside this, cultural actors have been active in highlighting the role of culture in enabling the wide-spread societal transformation that achieving these ambitious goals will require.
To mark World Cities Day 2021, IFLA has released a short report looking at the experience of libraries as UNESCO Cities of Literature, and the impact that this designation has.
The United Kingdom will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK, from 31 October – 12 November 2021.
The 41st General Conference of UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization) will take place from 9-24 November 2021 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.
The United Kingdom will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK, from 31 October – 12 November 2021.