National Archives Director-General re-elected as UNESCO's 'Memory of World' Chairperson

ABU DHABI, 18th March, 2018 (WAM) -- The International Advisory Committee of UNESCO's Memory of the World programme has re-elected Dr. Abdulla Alraisi, Director-General of the National Archives, as the Chairperson of the programme for the next two years recognising the leadership of the UAE in preserving documentary heritage. An extraordinary session of the International Advisory Committee (IAC) took place last week. Called by the UNESCO Director-General, the meeting was aimed at advancing the important work of the Committee, including sharpening the focus of the MoW Programme in response to the need for building capacities for preserving and accessing documentary heritage in Member States with priority given to Africa, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). During the meeting, the IAC members decided to complete the IAC-led review documents by 5th April 2018 in order to allow for UNESCO’s Member States to consult the documents as part of the comprehensive review process for which UNESCO is expected to submit an action plan at the 204th session of the Executive Board in April. In taking forward the discussion on re-focusing the work of the MoW Programme, there was unanimity that the Programme needs to pay greater attention to setting up national MoW committees as a viable framework for raising public awareness of the growing importance of preserving documentary heritage. The meeting agreed that, while the MoW registers were the most well-known aspect of the Programme, there was even greater need to highlight the rich diversity of documentary heritage that did not find its way into the registers – all this as part of a wide-ranging strategy to support national and global efforts for sustainable management and preservation of invaluable documentary heritage. In this regard, the IAC members fully supported the efforts by UNESCO’s MoW Secretariat to hold a series of regional consultations in Africa and the Arab States on the implementation of the 2015 Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage, including in digital form. Digital records are essential now for the effective administration of all governments but present a major technological challenge in ensuring their reliability and integrity long into the future. Dr. Abdulla expressed his support for the planned capacity-building events aimed at prioritising the programme’s focus on disaster risk reduction and management as a strategic framework for preserving documentary heritage, especially in LDCs and SIDS. The 14 members of the IAC are appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO.