Panama will be the venue for the 36th CERLALC Council

Panama will be a member of the Cerlalc Executive Committee for the next two years, demonstrating its commitment to the agenda presented to the Council.

On May 6, the 35th regular meeting of the Council of the Regional Center for Book Promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean – Cerlalc was held.  The event was attended by 16 member countries, at which the 2020 – 2021 Management Report and the Agenda for the development of reading and creative Ibero-America were presented.

During the event, Gabriel González, Vice Minister of Culture of Panama, spoke entirely about sign language. During this space, he exposed the progress in the implementation of the Beijing treaty, on audiovisual performances, adopted by the diplomatic conference on the protection of audiovisual performances of actions aimed at Panama.

«Thanks to CERLALC we have been able to make great progress in the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty in Panama. Together we carried out the Seminar: Participatory policies for the promotion of the production and dissemination of works in accessible formats aimed at Libraries, Associations of groups of people with disabilities, Writers, Publishers, among others,» said Gonzalez. «Our goal is the creation of a national catalog, with the aim of being able to make cross-border exchanges of accessible books with other countries in the region,» he concluded.

The council was attended by 16 member countries including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. Also present were Ministers María Elena Machuca, Minister of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador and President of the Council, Sylvie Durán, Minister of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica, and Lillia Esperanza Herrera Moreno, Minister of Education of Nicaragua, as well as Anne Lemaistre, Director of UNESCO‘s Office of Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the Council, Deputy Minister González, representing Panama’s Minister of Culture, Giselle González Villarrué, expressed interest in hosting the 36th Cerlalc Council, which will be held in 2023 and will bring together the ministers of culture and education of the 21 member countries of the organization to discuss important issues related to reading, libraries, books, creative industries, and copyright.

In addition, Panama was elected to the Cerlalc Executive Committee for the next two years, demonstrating its commitment to the agenda presented at the council and the actions that promote its implementation.