The sum of €30 million is up for grabs in grants as the ACPCultures+ Programme is calling on practitioners in the creative sector including cinema and audiovisual to submit proposals in Cultural product development in a bid to fight against poverty.
The programme is implemented by the Secretariat of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and funded under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) by the European Union for an amount of €30 million between 2020-2024. This 3rd Intra-ACP Support Programme for the ACP Cultural Sector merges the ACPCultures and ACPFilms Programmes, previously implemented under the 9th EDF, into one single support programme.
According to the organisers, the programme aims to contribute to the fight against poverty through the development and consolidation of viable and sustainable cultural industries in ACP countries by reinforcing their contribution to social and economic development, as well as the preservation of cultural diversity.
Under the supervision and direction of the ACP Secretariat, a Technical Assistance has been charged with the preparation and management of the calls for proposals, guiding grant beneficiaries and monitoring the execution of projects concerning contractual procedures, developing relevant information on the ACP culture sector through different studies, analyses, and recommendations, all while ensuring the promotion and communication of the programme and its activities in the context of the actions of the ACP Group in the culture sector.
The programme also hopes to reinforce the creation and production of cultural goods and services in the ACP States through an approach integrated with distribution networks; support an increased access to local, regional, intra-ACP, European and international markets for the cultural goods and services of the ACP States; building the capacities of culture sector professionals in ACP States, and thereby improving the regulatory environment of the culture sector in ACP States.
Two calls for proposals have been launched in the framework of the ACPCultures+ programme in the past, the first in 2011 and the second in 2012 in which 506 proposals have been submitted.
The grant requests submitted in the framework of the calls for proposals are assessed by an evaluation committee. This committee is composed of external experts (assessors), members of the committee and observers, each with an obligation of impartiality and confidentiality.