Combating poverty and promoting justice and democracy are the primary forces behind the largest philanthropic foundation in the world: the Ford Foundation.
Culture and support for Africa, Latin America and Asia is not the preserve of governments. Large private funds with their own cultural policy operate worldwide. In the past decade the Aga Khan Development Network has grown into one of the largest philanthropic organisations in the world.
The European Commission intends to set up a culture fund to support the distribution and production of cultural goods in the 78 African nations and the countries in the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP).
Support for culture in Africa, Asia and Latin American is not the exclusive right of governments. Sizeable private funds with their own cultural policy, such as the Gulbenkian foundation, are operating throughout the world.
Papua New Guinea is known to be the most culturally diverse country in the world. More than eight hundred different population groups with their own language live in the archipelago. The country's government faces a complicated challenge: which language will unify the country?