Page 4 - 2022 UNESCO ICDH Newsletter_vol.3

Opening
Celebrating the 30th Over the last 30 years, UNESCO’s Memory of the
World (MoW) Programme has been working to
anniversary of ensure that the world’s documentary heritage is fully
preserved, protected, and accessible to all, while
advocating for effective policy mechanisms and
UNESCO’s Memory of promoting national and international cooperation
among Member States. The MoW Programme,
the World Programme established in 1992, is celebrating its 30th anniversary
this year, making it a great opportunity to celebrate
achievements to date and share the direction for the
future.
by. Fackson Banda In marking the anniversary, UNESCO proposes a
celebration week from 27 October to 5 November
Chief, Documentary Heritage Unit 2022 under a global theme: “Your window to the world:
Communication and Information Sector Enlisting documentary heritage to promote inclusive,
just and peaceful societies.”
An important point to make with regard to this theme
is that it brings together the Co-ordinating Council of
Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA)’s multi-
year theme for the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
(“Your window to the world”) with that of the MoW
Programme’s celebration (“Enlisting documentary
heritage to promote inclusive, just and peaceful
societies”). This is an important strategic partnership
which will ensure a combined celebration, on 27
October 2022, of both the World Day for Audiovisual
Heritage and the 30th anniversary of the MoW
Programme.
This theme takes its cue from the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, particularly Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) 16. SDG 16 seeks to
“promote peaceful and inclusive societies for
sustainable development, provide access to justice
for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels”. In particular, Target 16.10 of
this SDG aims to “ensure public access to information
and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with
national legislation and international agreements.”
Therefore, trying to understand the role of documentary
heritage in relation to SDG 16 means looking at
documentary heritage as an information resource,
which lends itself both to the “public access to
information” and “fundamental freedoms” aspects of
Target 16.10.
More specifically, in order to work towards positioning
documentary heritage as a contributing factor towards
building inclusive, just and peaceful societies, there is
a need to:
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◦ Ensure that documentary heritage is protected in the International Federation of Library Associations
memory institutions;
and Institutions (IFLA), the International Council
◦ Make it readily available and accessible to all; and on Archives (ICA), the Co-ordinating Council of
Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA), the
◦ Promote its use and re-use as a matter of International Council of Museums (ICOM), etc.
fundamental freedoms.
For the success of the celebration, active local
Indeed, these ideas are encapsulated in the 2015 participation åis also expected from national and
Recommendation, which underlines “the importance regional committees as well as other partners of
of documentary heritage to promote the sharing of the Memory of the World Programme. To this end,
knowledge for greater understanding and dialogue, various national and/or regional activities may be
in order to promote peace and respect for freedom, contemplated, such as exhibitions, publications, the
democracy, human rights and dignity.”
launch of national registers where these do not exist,
Taking into account the above conceptual framework media events promoting the work of the national
and the overall goal of the Memory of the World and/or regional committee, and videos highlighting
Programme, the main issues that may define the different aspects of the global theme in context.
celebration of the 30th anniversary include, are but not
limited to: Given their solid contribution to the MoW Programme
over the past 30 years, we look forward to their
◦ Identifying documentary heritage which promotes enthusiastic participation in the celebration.
greater understanding and dialogue across cultures;
◦ Celebrating documentary heritage, including that of
marginalized groups, which contributed to bringing
about inclusive, just, and peaceful societies in a
particular national, regional or international context;
◦ Highlighting the gender inequalities in access to,
and usage of, documentary heritage;
◦ Exploring how documentary heritage can be used
as an educational resource and how media can
exploit the historical value of documentary heritage
for contemporary reporting on issues of sustainable
development; and
◦ Highlighting best practices on safeguarding
documentary heritage at risk.
The celebration will take two forms – global and local.
For the global celebration, UNESCO’s Documentary
Heritage Unit, which manages the Memory of the
World Programme, will host a global exhibition of
selected MoW inscriptions during the celebration week
(27 October – 5 November) and an online-onsite
symposium. The symposium will feature a keynote
speech, a series of testimonies, as well as a
showcasing of items of documentary heritage that
promote inclusion, justice and peace.
A celebratory anniversary statement will also be
produced and uploaded online. Its content will be
shaped by experts selected from national and regional
committees of the Memory of the World Programme,
with input from key partners of UNESCO, including