Some 114 people from five provinces participated in the first public consultation organized by the Ministry of Culture in partnership with the Central American Cultural and Educational Coordination (CECC-SICA). The aim of this consultation is to design the Regional Policy for the Promotion and Protection of Artists and Cultural Professionals of SICA and to get to know their realities closely.

The issues discussed at this meeting included challenges and proposals about the recognition of artists and data generation as well as laws or norms that affect artists and their social protection.

Important issues were also discussed, such as fair pay, access to financing, equality, inclusion and diversity, the digital environment, artist mobility and artistic freedom, among others.

The consultation was aimed at cultural managers, artists and independent associations of the provinces of Chiriquí, Veraguas, Herrera, Coclé and Panama.

During the five days of consultation, participants held workshops at which artists and managers expressed their views about the different issues and suggested potential solutions.

The meeting was led by the National Cultural Rights and Citizenship and the National Section of the Arts and with the inter-institutional collaboration of the Panamanian Institute of Labour Studies at MITREL.

That's an initiative of the Central American Educational and Cultural Coordination (CECC-SICA), with the aim of generating quality data and information for decision-making, ensuring that the rights of artists and cultural professionals are protected and recognizing their inputs to the region.