DEVELOPMENT: Italy Spends Millions on Cultural Projects

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Jorge Pina

ROME, May 7 1999 (IPS) - One of Italy’s unique initiatives to aid developing countries has been a 54 million dollars project to help in the recovery and restoration of their cultural heritage.

The 10-year project also has involved a four million dollars allocation for research missions in the countries of the south.

In Latin America, Italy is helping Guatemala restore the city of Antigua and is working with Brazilian authorities financing a study about the Amazon.

Italy also is funding a study of the Huave and Nahua indigenous groups in the state of Puebla in Mexico and in Peru is helping with the restoration of the city of Pinchay and financing ethno- religious research in the Amazon region, as well as excavations of the necropolis in the Valley of the Incas.

These, along with other projects in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe have accounted for 40 percent of the available funds while 60 percent of the Italian initiatives have been in countries south of the Mediterranean, such as Turkey where huge Roman ruins have been restored in a cooperative effort.

Under-secretary of Foreign Relations Rino Serri believes it is “natural that Italy take on a leadership role in this area,” given that his country already “finds itself engaged in protecting cultural heritage in developing countries.”

Lamberto Dini, Minister of Foreign Relations, stressed that the main objective of the co-operative effort is to fight poverty, but at the same time it is necessary to find new solutions to the problem.

Architect Fabrizio Ago, Cultural Relations representative of the Board of Co-operation for Development, told IPS that “cultural property is a resource capable of producing various types of benefits: political, social and economic.”

Cultural property has become an authentic, non-renewable resource, meaning it should be protected, especially in countries with fewer financial resources, he affirmed.

Ago added that cultural activities produce employment and can also play an important role in social integration. They can increase tolerance, especially in the large cities of some developing countries that have seen a large influx of people from rural areas.

Cultural activities can lay the groundwork for social co- existence and development based on fundamental values such as freedom, tolerance and respect for others, he said.

Ago also believes that there is a relationship between cultural heritage and sustainable development, “keeping in mind that the protection and valuation of cultural heritage can play an important role in a region’s social and economic development.”

In the countries of the South, protecting the cultural identity of small urban centres and rural areas can contribute to reducing the exodus to the region’s larger cities. In this way, culture contributes to preserving the human resources necessary for local development, Ago says.

The preservation of cultural heritage has also stimulated cultural tourism.

The Board of Co-operation for Development proposes to strengthen the stability of developing countries, fight poverty and guarantee humanitarian aid in crisis situations.

The first two objectives underscore the role of cultural heritage in developing countries. It can contribute to the understanding of differences among people, which will prevent tensions, and it can create employment as well as other benefits.