International Music Council (IMC)

official NGO partner of UNESCO.




The Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) is a member of the International Music Council (IMC).

The IMC was founded in 1949 at the request of UNESCO as a non-governmental advisory body on musical matters. It currently comprises national music committees in 74 countries on all continents as well as 34 organizations representing most fields of musical activity; membership also includes Members of Honor chosen among the world's outstanding musicians, a few individual members and supporting members in recognition of their individual or corporate generosity.
 
Members elect a 12-member Executive Committee that meets regularly between General Assemblies. A permanent Secretariat is located at UNESCO House in Paris. IMC members benefit from a wide range of professional services and extensive possibilities for exchanges at many levels. The International Music Council is the main global music organization. It works in close association with UNESCO and has a membership of national music committees and music organizations.
 
The IMC considers that the experience of music and music-making is a vital part of the everyday life of all people. It is a basic right for all people to express themselves and communicate through music. A world expert organization, a forum for exchange and reflection, an observatory in the field of music thanks to its geographic extension and the variety of competence of its membership, the IMC is an organization habituated to speak to governments, institutions and regions.
  
Thus it:
 
• monitors the availability of access to music for all
• supports endeavors which assure and secure this right
• informs widely about music and the right to it
• exercises advocacy when and where needed.

It is the IMC's objective to contribute to securing the following basic rights:
  
• the right for all children and adults to express themselves musically in all freedom
• the right for all children and adults to learn musical languages and skills
• the right for all children and adults to have access to musical involvement through participation, listening, creation and information
• the right for musical artists to develop their artistry and communicate through all media, with proper facilities
• the right for musical artists to obtain just recognition and remuneration for their services
 
The IMC aims at contributing to the development and strengthening of friendly working relations between all the musical cultures of the world on the basis of their absolute equality, mutual respect and appreciation. It concerns itself with musical creativity, education, performance, broadcasting and promotion, research and documentation, the status of musicians and various other aspects of musical life. This is made possible through the unparalleled range of
expertise of its membership.
 
Members of the IMC: The IMC comprises national music committees in more than seventy countries on all continents, over thirty international and regional organizations representing most fields of musical activity as well as individual members and members of honor chosen among the world's outstanding musicians; it also appoints supporting members to recognize generous individual or corporate donors.