The inter-regional conference is one of several meetings being organized by the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme Secretariat in order to galvanize support for activities aimed at preserving and creating conditions for universal access to documentary heritage.

UNESCO launched the MoW Programme in 1992 to guard against collective amnesia through the preservation of valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world. In so doing, the programme also ensures wider access to such heritage. The programme is thus intended to protect documentary heritage, and to help networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for the preservation of, and the access to, documentary and archival collections of valuable records.