Memory of the World Programme


's Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction. 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.

Memory of the World Programme background

The Memory of the World Register is a compendium of documents, manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, library, and archival holdings of universal value. 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. The program also uses technology to provide wider accessibility and diffusion of the items inscribed on the Register.
Any organization or individual can nominate a documentary item for inscription on the Register. During its meetings, the IAC examines the full documentation of the item's description, origin, world significance, and contemporary state of conservation. In practice, however, it seems that only two proposals per country are considered in each cycle.

Background and the IAC

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. This recorded memory reflects the diversity of languages, people, and cultures. 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.
The program is administered by the International Advisory Committee, whose 14 members are appointed by the UNESCO Director-General. 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, 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.
The IAC also maintains several subsidiary bodies:
was used to disseminate to the political community the first-ever French Constitution.

Memory of the World IAC meetings

IAC's biennial meetings are used to discuss and inscribe items onto the Register. The meeting takes place every odd year:
IAC SessionYearSiteDateIAC chairpersonNumber of nominations evaluatedNumber of inscriptions to the RegisterReferences
1st1993Pułtusk, PolandSeptember 12–14Jean-Pierre Wallot nonenone
2nd1995Paris, FranceMay 3–5Jean-Pierre Wallot nonenone
3rd1997Tashkent, UzbekistanSeptember 29 – October 1Jean-Pierre Wallot 6938
Bureau Meeting1998London, United KingdomSeptember 4–5Jean-Pierre Wallot nonenone
4th1999Vienna, AustriaJune 10–12Bendik Rugaas 209
5th2001Cheongju, South KoreaJune 27–29Bendik Rugaas 4221
6th2003Gdańsk, PolandAugust 28–30Ekaterina U. Genieva 4123
7th2005Lijiang, ChinaJune 13–18Deanna B. Marcum 5329
8th2007Pretoria, South AfricaJune 11–15Alissandra Cummins 5338
9th2009Bridgetown, BarbadosJuly 27–31Roslyn Russell 5535
10th2011Manchester, United KingdomMay 22–25Roslyn Russell 8445
11th2013Gwangju, South KoreaJune 18–21Helena R Asamoah-Hassan 8456
12th2015Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesOctober 4–6Abdulla El Reyes 8644
13th2017Paris, FranceOctober 24–27Abdulla El Reyes 13278

Memory of the World Register

Of the 301 documentary heritage items listed on the Register by 2013, 181, or more than half of the documents, are accounted for by the region encompassing Europe and North America, which includes 39 countries and/or territories.
RegionNumber of inscriptions to the RegisterNumber of countries/organizations
Memory of the World Register – Africa149
Memory of the World Register – Arab States95
Memory of the World Register – Asia and the Pacific8024
Memory of the World Register – Europe and North America18139
Memory of the World Register – Latin America and the Caribbean6725
Memory of the World Register – International Organizations44
Private Foundation11
Total301 Registered items107

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 fund-raising, 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. In the Asia-Pacific region, in 2014–2015, there were 18 member nations of MOWPAC, while in 2016, there were 16 national MOW committees.
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.

''Jikji'' Prize

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

Recipients