International Music Council

IMC Music Sector Development Program. This program will seek to assist developing countries in developing their music sectors. The nature of the development will be decided by the developing countries after an extended process of analysis and discussion.

• Sustainable futures for music traditions: In music, one of the great concerns is the survival and revitalisation of traditional musics. The IMC has entered into a partnership to discover and describe projects across the world that have been successful in returning traditional musics to everyday life. The IMC is the senior non-academic partner in this five-year project, led by the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre, Brisbane, with seven universities on five continents, the Music Council of Australia, and funding from the Australian Research Council. Read more
• Taking into account the specific needs of potential beneficiaries, UNESCO and the International Music Council launched a pilot project training module in East Africa with a view to creating capacities to capture international funding for music projects. This project was carried out under UNESCO’s Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity with the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Read more
  
• Support is being sought for other programs in Africa, Afghanistan and the South Pacific.

Capacity-building for members. The IMC supports the development of its member organisations in various ways, mostly upon request but also through workshops and provision of information.

Regional development. The IMC is committed to the formation of regional councils, with a more direct understanding of regional issues, as chapters of the organisation. A highly successful regional council is operating in Europe, one is in the process of being established in Africa, and IMC is supporting the formal incorporation of the Council of the Three Americas, covering north, central and south America. Early steps have been taken to establish a council in east and south-east Asia, and it is anticipated that the Arab Music Council will consolidate around the conference in Tunisia in 2009.