More than 130 Ministers call for support to culture sector in COVID-19 crisis response at the first virtual meeting of Minister’s of Culture organized by UNESCO on Wednesday, 22nd April 2020.The Hon. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha (as well as the Minister of Culture) also shared his remarks on the impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis on the cultural sector.
The health crisis may profoundly affect the cultural sector at regional, national and local levels over the long term. The mobility restrictions or containment measures taken by many countries to stem the pandemic drastically curb access to culture and weaken the cultural ecosystem as a whole. The closure of heritage sites and related cultural infrastructure, the cancellation or postponement of events, and the interruption of cultural production will have significant economic and social repercussions for the cultural and creative industries.
The impact of the crisis will further weaken the professional, social and economic conditions of artists and cultural professionals across all cultural domains. In many parts of the world, the unequal access to technology exacerbates the dynamics of exclusion of certain categories of populations, notably women.
