A/HRC/46/34 rights and unable to do their work, everyone’s cultural rights are diminished.29 In the absence of adequate support, this will be the entirely predictable result. 13. Meanwhile, around the world, some States and private donors are substantially reducing their commitments to cultural sectors, including the museum sector, exemplified by State cuts worth about US$ 7 million from five cultural bodies in Brazil, including the National Arts Foundation, the National Library Foundation, and the Brazilian Institute of Museums. One parliamentarian has pointed out that such cuts make it impossible for the bodies to function. 30 In Slovenia, funding to the film industry has been thwarted by administrative difficulties since May 2020, shutting down film production for much of the year; “the severity of the situation is … so dramatic that the survival of the entire ecosystem of the Slovenian film and audiovisual industry is now seriously jeopardized”.31 14. All the pre-existing challenges associated with work in the artistic and cultural sectors, including ongoing violations of cultural rights, compound pandemic effects. As one artist observed, “every problem has been magnified”.32 The Assistant Director-General for Culture of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) noted that “the COVID-19 crisis has also revealed a persistent need for improved mechanisms to protect the social, economic and working conditions of artists and cultural professionals”, and emphasized the need to uphold and strengthen the status of artists.33 Additional problems, such as increased financial insecurity and mental health impacts, 34 have now been added, creating a truly impossible situation for many artists and cultural workers. These developments have catalysed a renewed debate about universal basic income for artists, strongly supported by some with whom the Special Rapporteur consulted. It must also be borne in mind that all of the harmful impacts are magnified in developing countries, where cultural infrastructures are often weaker and statistics less available. 15. The protection of public health during the pandemic, through legitimate science- and evidence-based measures, is utterly essential and required by human rights obligations. However, public health responses to the pandemic which may be necessary and legitimate, such as some limits on freedom of assembly or freedom of movement imposed in accordance with international standards, have had grave impacts on cultural rights that must be addressed. For example, many public spaces vital for the enjoyment of cultural rights, including cultural spaces and institutions such as youth centres,35 museums, galleries, cultural heritage sites, performances spaces, cultural centres, libraries and book shops, have been closed, sometimes multiple times, cutting off access to the public but also shrinking their revenues and potentially leading to permanent closures. 36 Maintenance and cleaning at cultural heritage sites has been affected and intangible heritage practices such as local festivals interrupted.37 At times during the pandemic in some countries, nearly every cultural institution, entire library systems and all schools38 were closed simultaneously.39 One State noted that such closures had decreased the opportunities for knowledge acquisition, recreation and leisure activities for the whole population, thus posing a danger to their sense 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 6 See A/HRC/43/50. See https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/2020/09/ministerio-da-economia-corta-ao-menos-r-36milhoes-de-cinco-orgaos-ligados-a-cultura.shtml (in Portuguese). See www.filmneweurope.com/press-releases/item/120979-european-organizations-support-slovenianfilm-community-facing-disastrous-governmental-pressure-as-public-film-funding-is-blocked. See http://hannahberry.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/UK-Comics-Creators-research-report2020.pdf, p. 4. UNESCO, Culture in Crisis, p. 2. This practical guide incorporates insights from the UNESCO ResiliArt movement, which included virtual debates involving over 1,000 artists and cultural professionals from around the world. See http://hannahberry.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/UK-Comics-Creators-research-report2020.pdf, p. 4. See contribution from Greece. See, e.g., www.aam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AAMCOVID-19SnapshotSurvey-1.pdf. See contribution from Maldives. See A/HRC/44/39. See, e.g., contribution from Bulgaria.