H.E. Amb. Luvuyo Ndimeni

Cultural Diplomacy, Exposure, and Human Rights By H.E. Amb. Luvuyo Ndimeni (Minister-Plenipotentiary, Deputy Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations)

Cultural Diplomacy is something that has been done very low-key, and for the domestic people in South Africa. But at the global level, the linkages between Cultural Diplomacy, exposure, and human rights are very critical in the sense that we can establish linkages easier when we understand where we come from.

I think the main thing is education and awareness. One of the things that is very useful and beneficial for the local population is the availability of interaction between the local people and foreign nationals. This is very critical in terms of exchanging views... … The notion is that the more you interface, the more you are able to understand the important cultural issues. So in that sense, it is diplomacy, but you don’t define it in the formal sense of engagement at the diplomatic level. Rather, it’s diplomacy defined by local conditions.

- The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in Geneva 2012; Geneva, Switzerland; June 14th, 2012