Merely adopting an international convention does not immediately give it its full weight. The signatories to the Convention are required to implement it and to undertake concrete action.
What do I mean by concrete action? Countries with no or very few cultural policies run the risk of trade agreements or market regulations jeopardizing their cultural expression. Implementation and concrete action means adopting the goals and approach set out in the Convention. Basically, it means activating the Convention and, in so doing, giving it meaning and weight.
As far as international co-operation is concerned, the Convention clearly challenges signatory countries to co-operate with each other. Genuine co-operation between states leads to the development of a robust community, which will have a much stronger voice in multilateral discussions on cultural issues. This is what we need now.
I gave the example of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That Convention gained significance and weight as soon as violations were exposed and concrete action was taken.