The Cultural Development Foundation (CDF)

The Cultural Development Foundation was established to carry out the National Cultural Policy through training, advocacy and community development.

History

Plans to establish St. Lucia’s first Cultural Development Foundation received the approval of the House of Assembly on September 26, 2000 with the passage of the Cultural Development Foundation Bill. The Bill made provision for the establishment of a Cultural Development Foundation as a corporate body to promote the development and management of the arts and culture in St. Lucia. It also outlined a framework for the implementation of a National Cultural Policy Document that was developed by the Interim Management Board on Culture.

In presenting the bill to Parliament, then Minister for Culture, Honorable Damien Greaves, indicated the context within which the Cultural Development Foundation legislation was being proposed, in particular the rationale for the government’s heavy emphasis on the development of culture. He was critical of those who denigrate culture and who fail to acknowledge those activists who have contributed to its development.

Establishment of The Cultural Development Foundation Bill was seen as a purposeful and innovative initiative, and a central focus of all development policies as it determines the capacity of a people to sustain works and developments in areas of the economy, policy and society in general.

The foundation was setup with an inter-dependent relationship between the Cultural Development Foundation and the Ministry of Culture. The responsibility of the Ministry of Culture would be the policy development and the monitoring of the implementation of that policy by the Board of the Cultural Development Foundation.

The Cultural Development Foundation is the main body responsible for the management of St. Lucia Carnival.

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