This event, to be held in 2026 under the theme: “Strategies for repositioning the handicrafts sector within the development priorities of ODEPA member countries,” aims to identify levers for action capable of strengthening political will at the highest levels within member states and fostering a stronger-than-ever commitment from Technical and Financial Partners (TFPs), supported by a significant increase in resource allocations to the sector.
Progress of the work
The proceedings of the 12th Ministerial Conference will take place in three (3) phases.
The first phase consists of a meeting of experts, which will last two (2) days and allow the relevant stakeholders to examine the main theme of the 12th Conference. For each invited member country, the experts will include the Director General/National Director responsible for Crafts and one (1) representative of the artisans.
In addition to experts from the various member states, this meeting will also bring together representatives from the invited institutions, as well as those from ODEPA observer countries.
The second phase involves plenary sessions that will bring together ministers responsible for crafts, experts, representatives of observer countries and institutions, as well as invited resource persons. This session will be devoted to presenting the findings from the experts’ meeting.
The third phase consists of a closed-door session of the ministers responsible for crafts, scheduled to last one (1) day and dedicated to reviewing the issues submitted for deliberation by the Council of Ministers. This phase will conclude with the reading of the Final Declaration of the 12th ODEPA Ministerial Conference.
