A/HRC/37/55 monitor and fund, and long-term engagements, which allow the building of deeper trust and may contribute to more sustainable change but are harder to fund. Another concern is to avoid the pitfalls associated with overly instrumentalizing arts and culture at the expense of aesthetic quality and cultural integrity. 13. Taking a human rights approach to evaluating the contribution that socially engaged actions in the field of arts and culture can make requires further thinking about objectives and methodologies. III. International legal framework 14. Socially engaged actions in the field of culture come within the framework of cultural rights, in particular under the rubric of the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, without discrimination, and to access and enjoy the creativity of others, as well as the right to freedom of expression, including expression through any artistic form. 15. The right to take part in cultural life, enshrined in particular in article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and interpreted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, establishes the right of all persons to access, participate in, enjoy and contribute to cultural life. Cultural rights protect the rights of each person, individually and in association with others, as well as groups of people, to develop and express their humanity, their world view and the meanings they give to their existence and their development. 3 As stated in general comment No. 21, contribution to cultural life is also to be understood as a right to take part in the development of the society to which one belongs, and in the definition, elaboration and implementation of policies and decisions that have an impact on the exercise of a person’s cultural rights (para. 15 (c)). 16. Cultural rights also include the freedom to join and leave any cultural groups and be associated with different groups simultaneously, as well as the freedom to create new groups of shared cultural values and new cultural meanings and practices without fear of punitive action, including any form of violence. Everyone should have the freedom to embrace or reject particular cultural practices as well as to revise and (re)negotiate existing traditions, values or practices, regardless of their provenance. Active engagement in the cultural sphere offers crucial possibilities to (re)shape meanings and helps to build central traits of democratic citizenship such as critical thinking, creativity, sharing and sociability.4 Many actions in the field of culture also involve the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly and association (article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). 17. Cultural rights are important in and of themselves, and are also essential tools for achieving development, peace and eradication of poverty and for building social cohesion, as well as mutual respect and understanding between individuals and groups in all their diversity, and enhancing the enjoyment of other human rights.5 More widely, cultural rights require the implementation of policies promoting cultural interaction and understanding between people and groups, the sharing of perspectives about the past and of visions about the future, and the design of a cultural landscape that is reflective and respectful of cultural diversity and universal human rights. 6 18. The vitality of artistic creativity is necessary for the development of vibrant cultures and the functioning of democratic societies. Freedom of artistic expression is guaranteed by article 15 (3) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which requires States parties to undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for creative activity, and by article 19 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which asserts that everyone has “the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom 3 4 5 6 See A/HRC/14/36, para. 9; and A/67/287, para. 7. See A/67/287, paras. 26 and 28. See A/HRC/14/36, para. 3. See A/HRC/25/49, para. 48. 5