The African, Caribbean, and Pacific States, or ACP region, is comprised of 79 countries tied to the European Union through the Cotonou Agreement, otherwise known as the "ACP-EC Partnership Agreement." Despite the economic, geographic, and historical differences of the member countries, they share common challenges in the cultural sector, including a lack of funding for creative industries, a weakness of professional networks, and a lack of cultural institutions. Despite this lack of resources and support, the cultural and creative sectors create the largest number of jobs for the youth in ACP countries, and a substantial number of women as well. Increased support for these sectors would have the effect of positively impacting the lives and livelihoods of women and youth throughout this region.

In the UN Sustainable Development Goals, culture plays an important role in the achievement of several objectives, including access to universal education or the overall reduction of inequalities and creation of jobs. The European Consensus on Development (2017) states that “culture is both an enabler and an important component of development and may facilitate social inclusion, freedom of expression, identity building, civil empowerment, and conflict prevention while strengthening economic growth."

In the 2017 Brussels Declaration, ACP countries renewed their conviction that culture is an important tool for their socio-economic development. With this in mind, the ACP-EU Culture Programme aims to support the cultural and creative sectors of ACP countries and build the capacity of the ACP Secretariat to further contribute to their socioeconomic development. This will be achieved in three ways:

• Through the creation and production of high-quality goods and services at a competitive price.
• Through access to international, national, and regional markets, with the circulation, diffusion, and promotion of ACP goods and services.
• With improved access to funding via innovative mechanisms.

Through the implementation of this project, DT Global aims to support:

Overall coordination of technical assistance and provision of support to a grant programme, including administrative and financial management of direct grant contracts:

• The ACP-EU Prize was given to the best short movie, feature film, or documentary during the Panafrican Film and Television Film Festival of Ouagadougou “FESPACO” in March 2019. The selected movies received help for their translation, dubbing, and diffusion.
• An initial call for proposals was launched between April and June 2019 to support the audiovisual co-production in ACP countries.
• A second call for proposals was launched between March and May 2020 to support the creative industries in the ACP countries.

Increase the visibility of the ACP-EU Culture Programme, its activities, and results through:

• The website www.acp-ue-culture.eu, which has been created and is accessible.
• Ensure ACP-EU Culture is visible on all main social media platforms.