A/78/213 36. The organization continues to ignore the obvious, that fiscal and social policies rely a great deal on the priorities, visions and values that people have, and are shaped by their cultural understandings. Article 4 (3) of the Articles of Agreement states that IMF “shall respect the domestic social and political policies of members”. These policies presumably include State human rights commitments, including cultural rights obligations. Recently, IMF has adopted explicit policies and statements on subjects such as gender 37 and climate change. 38 Hopefully, this indicates an evolving practice that increasingly touches on human rights. III. Persistent challenges A. The cultural dimension of sustainable development is still not recognized in discussions 37. A persistent fundamental challenge is the vision that development can happen mainly through the liberalization of trade. The economic dimension of development still overwhelmingly takes up all the space in international governance. The cultural dimension is still invisible, even in the myriad of current discussions and debates, reports, counter-reports, initiatives, programming and actions. 38. This is particularly regrettable in the discussion of the Sustainable Development Goals. There have been many voices highlighting the omission of culture in implementing the Goals, but so far, the difference they have made is limited. In 2021, several members of the #Culture2030 Network noted that culture is an underused accelerator for the implementation of the Goals, both for short -term recovery and long-term sustainable development. 39 39. The forthcoming 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report does not demonstrate any understanding of the cultural dimension of development. The quadrennial report, drafted by an independent group of scientists appointed by the Secretary-General and supported by a task team of six entities (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, UNESCO and the World Bank), fails to address the importance of cultural frameworks in realizing sustainable development. Interestingly, in the report it is noted that: “a better future does not rest on one source of security, but on all necessary securities, including geopolitical, energy, climate, water, food and social security”. 40. A better future is of course also dependent on cultural security. Strategies to embrace transformation should integrate the principles of cultural understanding as well as respect for cultural diversity. 40 The Global Sustainable Development Report does not bring culture into the discussion of women’s empow erment, or technology and knowledge. The literature from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs on the Goals favours “activities [that] seek to promote cross-cutting approaches and value of stakeholder engagement in planning and decision-making”, 41 but cultural rights are not addressed in any depth. __________________ 37 38 39 40 41 12/24 IMF, IMF Strategy Toward Mainstreaming Gender, Policy Paper No. 2022/037 (2022). IMF, “IMF Strategy to Help Members Address Climate Change Related Policy Challenges – Priorities, Modes of Delivery, and Budget Implications”, Policy Paper No. 2021/057 (2021). See https://sdgs.un.org/events/accelerator-under-used-realising-potential-culture-short-termrecovery-and-long-term. Contributions of Chile, annex 1; International Federation of Library Associations an d Institutions (2023); Italy; Larsen, Haller and Kothari. See https://sdgs.un.org/topics/capacity-development. 23-14310