Page 38 - 2022UNESCO ICDH Newsletter_vol.4

The Importance of the IBERARCHIVOS Programme in Safeguarding the Documentary Heritage of Ibero-America Cristina Díaz Martínez | Deputy Director of the Spanish State Archives, Iberarchivos

3. Iberarchivos tangible results
Between the first call for grants in 1999 and the last one approved in
2021, Iberarchivos Intergovernmental Committee - ADAI Programme has
approved eighteen calls for grants for 1,395 archival projects in 23 Ibero-
American countries.
The archival projects during this period has taken place in almost
400 Ibero-American municipalities and specifically, in around 800
different archival institutions, reasons for us to emphasize the impact
the Programmes has had in the reduction of territorial inequalities, in the
strengthening of institutional capabilities, and definitively the increase in
services destined to Ibero-American citizenship in its wider geographical
sense.
Behind these global figures are hidden concrete projects with a great
impact on the archives of the region. About the main themes of these
projects mostly have focused on creating the necessary conditions for
the proper preventive conservation of documents, through the acquisition
of technical equipment, furniture or conservation units. Likewise,
numerous projects have dealt with pest control in tropical climates or
on preservation of materials in digital or microfilm format. Another large
block of projects refers to the tasks of organizing and describing the
archival holdings, through the creation of finding aids. Finally, there would
be another third set of projects for training, through the organization of
courses, seminars and workshops of a technical nature.
I would like to make special mention of some categories that have
a greater impact on the promotion of access to the archives by the
citizens and on the fundamental role of the archives for the exercise
of fundamental rights as an indispensable basis for development, 4. Iberarchivos Acknowledgment
particularly in the case of the most vulnerable population groups. On September 2016 Iberarchivos received the Jikji Memory of
the World Prize by UNESCO, given to entities or initiatives who have
contributed in a significant manner to conservation and access of
the World Heritage Documents. In the Latin American region, Spain
and Portugal is a renowned and recognised archival cooperation
programme, well known by professionals working in archives. Throughout
$ its twenty five years of existence Iberarchivos has demonstrated that
the cooperation is an effective way to promote the conservation of our
common heritage and to increase the access of the Ibero-American
citizenship to the archives.
For further information, visit the website www.iberarchivos.org
(in Spanish and Portuguese).

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