The Commissioners responsible for this theme were Fola Adeola, Bob Geldof and Anna Tibaijuka.
The Commission's work on culture and participation set out to challenge assumptions held inside and outside Africa. The theme is inherently cross-cutting, impacting upon each of the other commission themes. The Commissioners worked to ensure that issues around culture and participation were reflected across the whole of the Commission's work.
The work of the Commission on culture and participation started in a deliberately open-ended way. From the outset it was anticipated that the Commission’s consultations with a broad range of people would strongly influence the direction and ultimate success of the theme. Work under this theme was structured in a framework that incorporated three main elements: perceptions, policies and processes.
There were four different sets of perceptions that the Commission sought to understand: perceptions of where Africa's development is now; of how it got there; of where it is heading; and of where it could be heading if the Commission and those working with it successfully reinvigorate African development. The Commissioners sought to obtain perceptions both of Africans and others from outside the continent, including the African diaspora, in recognition of the inter-linked world we live in.
The Commission also sought to assess concrete policy issues. An understanding of Africa's distinctive and diverse cultures is not about abstract arguments. We recommend that an appreciation of African cultures and diversity is adopted in all development policy-making. In addition we recognise that cultures offer opportunities for enterprise. Tourism and sport and the use of indigenous knowledge are examples. The Commission took work done by NEPAD and UNESCO as starting points for its analysis.
Culture and participation also provided the context in which decisions were made about which processes to follow in the design and implementation of policies in all the areas under consideration by the Commission. This is about ensuring that policies are designed with the involvement of those people affected by decision-making, particularly those groups most easily excluded, including women and indigenous peoples. The process was also about understanding the ways which people organise themselves, ranging from informal institutions to civic bodies, and an understanding of basic rights and responsibilities that are meaningful to the people who aspire to them.