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Memory of the World Programme

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(Old) Logo of the Memory of the World Programme

UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction.[1] It calls for the preservation of valuable archival holdings, library collections, and private individual compendia all over the world for posterity, the reconstitution of dispersed or displaced documentary heritage, and increased accessibility to, and dissemination of, these items.[1][2][3]

Overview

The Memory of the World Register is a compendium of documents, manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, library, and archival holdings of universal value.[1] Inscription on the Register leads to improved conservation of the documentary heritage by calling upon the program's networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for the preservation, digitization, and dissemination of the material.[3] The program also uses technology to provide wider accessibility and diffusion of the items inscribed on the Register.[3]

Any organization or individual can nominate a documentary item for inscription on the Register via UNESCO Member States through their National Commission for UNESCO or, in the absence of a National Commission, the relevant government body in charge of relations with UNESCO, involving, if one exists, the relevant national MoW committee. Two proposals per UNESCO Member State are considered in each nomination cycle, joint nomination proposals from two or more UNESCO Member States are unlimited. During its meetings, the International Advisory Council (IAC) examines the full documentation of the item's description, origin, world significance, and contemporary state of conservation. The IAC recommends to the Executive Board of UNESCO the items proposed for inscription.[4]

History

In 1992, the program began as a way to preserve and promote documentary heritage, which can be a single document, a collection, a holding or an archival fonds that is deemed to be of such significance as to transcend the boundaries of time and culture.[1] This recorded memory reflects the diversity of languages, people, and cultures.[5] UNESCO, the world agency responsible for the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage, realized the need to protect such fragile yet important component of cultural heritage. The Memory of the World Programme was established to preserve and digitize humanity's documentary heritage.[6]

People the world over are creating [memories] in forms that are less and less permanent—be it sound recordings, film, videotape, newsprint, photographs, or computer-based documents. It must be said that the output of the present century alone is probably greater than the total output of all previous centuries put together; and ironically and tragically, it is being lost faster than ever before. It is a tragedy indeed, for what is at stake is the recorded memory of mankind.

— Dato’ Habibah Zon, Director-General of the National Archives of Malaysia, introduction from
UNESCO MEMORY OF THE WORLD PROGRAMME: The Asia-Pacific Strategy, 17 April 1999[1]

The program is administered by the International Advisory Committee (IAC), whose 14 members are appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO.[1][3] The IAC is responsible for the formulation of major policies, including the technical, legal and financial framework for the program. Regular meetings were held by the IAC in its interim capacity beginning in 1993 to sustain the momentum gained by the program, culminating in the creation of the Memory of the World Register during its second meeting in 1995,[1][7] with the inaugural batch of documents being inscribed on the Register in 1997, after the statutes that created the IAC as a standing committee took effect.[8] The IAC also maintains several subsidiary bodies:[9]

  • Bureau: Maintains an overview of the Programme between IAC meetings and makes tactical decisions in liaison with the Secretariat, reviews the use of the Memory of the World logo, and liaises with national Memory of the World committees and monitors their growth and operation.
  • Technical Sub-Committee: Develops, regularly revises and promulgates information guides on the preservation of documentary heritage, and offers advice on technical and preservation matters.
  • Marketing Sub-Committee: Develops strategies for awareness raising and for increasing financial support for Memory of the World, implements a marketing plan, and compiles and reviews guidelines for the use of the Memory of the World logo.
  • Register Sub-Committee: Oversees the assessment of nominations for the Memory of the World International Register and provides recommendations, with reasons, for their inscription or rejection to each meeting of the IAC.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) was used to disseminate to the political community the first French Constitution.[10]

Memory of the World International Register

The Memory of the World International Register is a compendium of the world's documentary heritage – such as manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, and library and archive holdings.[1] It catalogues documentary heritage that has been recommended by the International Advisory Committee, and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO, according to the selection criteria regarding "world significance and outstanding universal value."[11]

The first inscriptions on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register were made in 1997.[3][7] Following the successful establishment of the Register, UNESCO and the Memory of the World Programme have encouraged the creation of national and regional organizations – presumably in part to streamline applications and fundraising – as well as national and regional registers, which are to focus on documentary heritage of great regional or national importance, but not necessarily of global importance.

Among the various properties in the Register include recordings of folk music; ancient languages and phonetics; aged remnants of religious and secular manuscripts; collective lifetime works of renowned giants of literature; science and music; copies of landmark motion pictures and short films; and accounts documenting changes in the world's political, economic, and social stage.

As of December 2018, 432 documentary heritages had been inscribed in the Register, with 274 of these from Europe and North America and 116 from Asia and the Pacific.[12] In the Asia-Pacific region, in 2014–2015, there were 18 member nations of MOWCAP (6 without national committees), while in 2016, there were 16 national MoW committees.[13]

The program is not without controversy. During the 2015 cycle, for example, there was a significant degree of conflict within East Asia, as registry with the MoW Program was becoming viewed as an approval of particular views of contested history, specifically with respect to the Nanjing Massacre and the comfort women.[13]

Region Number of inscriptions to the Register Number of countries/organizations
Memory of the World Register – Africa 24
Memory of the World Register – Arab States 13
Memory of the World Register – Asia and the Pacific 116
Memory of the World Register – Europe and North America 274
Memory of the World Register – Latin America and the Caribbean 93
Memory of the World Register – Other 7
Total 429 main + 3 additional 523 main[Note 1] + 4 additional

Top 10 countries by number of inscriptions

Rank Country Number of inscriptions
1  Germany 30
2  United Kingdom 24
3  Netherlands 21
4  France 20
5  Poland 18
5  South Korea 18
7  Austria 16
8  China 15
8  Russia 15
10  Spain 14

Memory of the World IAC meetings

Biennial meetings of the International Advisory Committee are used to discuss and inscribe items onto the Register. The meeting takes place every odd year:

IAC Session Date Site IAC chairperson Number of nominations evaluated Number of inscriptions to the Register References
1st 1993
Sept 12–14 		Pułtusk, Poland Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada)[8] none none [1]
2nd 1995
May 3–5 		Paris, France Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada)[7] none none [1]
3rd 1997
Sept 29 – Oct 1 		Tashkent, Uzbekistan Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada) 69 38 [1][7]
Bureau Meeting 1998
Sept 4–5 		London, United Kingdom Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada) none none [1]
4th 1999
Jun 10–12 		Vienna, Austria Bendik Rugaas (Norway) 20 9 [8]
5th 2001
Jun 27–29 		Cheongju, South Korea Bendik Rugaas (Norway) 42 21 [14]
6th 2003
Aug 28–30 		Gdańsk, Poland Ekaterina Genieva (Russian Federation) 41 23 [3][15]
7th 2005
Jun 13–18 		Lijiang, China Deanna B. Marcum (USA) 53 29 [5][16]
8th 2007
Jun 1–15 		Pretoria, South Africa Alissandra Cummins (Barbados) 53 38 [6][17]
9th 2009
Jul 27–31 		Bridgetown, Barbados Roslyn Russell (Australia) 55 35 [18][19]
10th 2011
May 22–25 		Manchester, United Kingdom Roslyn Russell (Australia) 84 45 [20]
11th 2013
Jun 18–21 		Gwangju, South Korea Helena R Asamoah-Hassan (Ghana) 84 56 [21]
12th 2015
Oct 4–6 		Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Abdulla El Reyes (United Arab Emirates) 86 44 [22]
13th 2017
Oct 24–27 		Paris, France Abdulla El Reyes (United Arab Emirates) 132 78 [23]
14th 2023
Mar 8-10,
Apr 11 		Paris, France + online 88 64 [24]


Jikji Prize

The Jikji is the earliest known book printed with movable metal type in 1377.

The Jikji Prize was established in 2004 in cooperation with the South Korean government to further promote the objectives of the Memory of the World Programme, and to commemorate the 2001 inscription of the country's Jikji on the Register.[16][25] The award, which includes a cash prize of $30,000 from the Korean government, recognizes institutions that have contributed to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage.[5]

The prize has been awarded biennially since 2005 during the meeting of the IAC.[5]

Recipients

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Some of these were joint submissions.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "UNESCO Memory of the World Programme: The Asia-Pacific Strategy". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2005-02-28. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  2. ^ "Official website". UNESCO. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Twenty-three new inscriptions on Memory of the World Register of Documentary Collections". UNESCO Press. 2003-09-01. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  4. ^ "General Guidelines of the Memory of the World (MoW) Programme" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Twenty-nine new documentary collections inscribed on the Memory of the World Register". UNESCO Press. 2005-06-21. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  6. ^ a b Jasmina Sopova (2007-06-20). "Thirty-eight new inscriptions for Memory of the World Register". UNESCO Press. Archived from the original on 2009-11-11. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  7. ^ a b c d "Third Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  8. ^ a b c "Fourth Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  9. ^ "International Advisory Committee". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. 2009-08-11. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  10. ^ "Original Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789–1791)". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  11. ^ "Memory of the World Register". UNESCO. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  12. ^ "Statistics OF Memory of the World" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  13. ^ a b Yamamoto, Mayumi (2016). "Heritage and Diplomacy: A Cultural Approach to UNESCO's Document Registry Program in East Asia". Annual Journal of Cultural Anthropology. 11. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  14. ^ "Fifth Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  15. ^ "Sixth Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2005-03-25. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  16. ^ a b c "Seventh Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2005-12-20. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  17. ^ "Eighth Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2006-06-03. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  18. ^ Joie Springer (2007-06-20). "Thirty-eight new inscriptions for Memory of the World Register". UNESCO Press. Archived from the original on 2015-03-14. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  19. ^ "2009 Nominations". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  20. ^ MotW IAC (2011). "10th Meeting of the International Advisory Committee Memory of the World Programme Manchester, United Kingdom, 22–25 May 2011 Report" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  21. ^ MotW IAC (2013). "55 new inscriptions on UNESCO Memory of the World Register". UNESCO. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  22. ^ MotW IAC (2015). "12th Meeting of the International Advisory Committee". UNESCO. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  23. ^ MotW IAC (2015). "13th Meeting of the International Advisory Committee" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  24. ^ "Nominations of new items of documentary heritage to be inscribed on the Memory of the World international register: list of nominations". unesdoc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  25. ^ "UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on January 30, 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  26. ^ "UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World 2009 Prize awarded to National Archives of Malaysia". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. 2009-08-21. Archived from the original on 2015-03-14. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  27. ^ "National Archives of Australia to receive UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize". UNESCO News Service. 2011-05-30. Archived from the original on 2015-03-14. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  28. ^ "UNESCO / Jikji Memory of the World Prize 2020 awarded to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (Cambodia)". UNESCO. April 9, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  29. ^ "The American University in Cairo to receive 2022 UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize | UNESCO". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
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