MoW_PAC

Mr. Udaya Cabral Director, IFLA  PAC Center Sri Lanka and Ms. Jaesun Lee, Director, IFLA PAC Center Korea attended the 8th UNESCO, MOWCAP (Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific) General Meeting in Gwangju,  Republic of Korea in beginning of June 2018.

The UNESCO Memory of the World (MoW) Programme was established in 1992 in the light of the growing awareness of preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage in various parts of the world. Significant collections worldwide suffered a variety of fates; illegal trading, destruction, natural disasters and loss of interest, and leaving many of the collections endangered. Happily, there was also evidence that missing documentary heritage was sometimes rediscovered.

The General Guidelines for the MoW Programme were prepared with a strong IFLA contribution. Now, through its National Commissions, UNESCO prepares a list of endangered library and archive holdings and a world list of national cinematic heritage.

During the General Meeting of the MOWCAP Bureau, national Memory of the World Committees from the Asia-Pacific region presented their progress in preserving and giving access to documentary heritage during the last two years. Ten new inscriptions to the MOWCAP register were approved including the Archives of the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers, Mechanisms from the People’s Republic of China and the Culion Leprosy Archives from the Republic of the Philippines.

IFLA PAC directors from both Sri Lanka and Korea were present during the meeting, highlighting the scope of the IFLA PAC Centres, the potential for information sharing on the PAC network, and the IFLA Risk Register. They emphasized the importance of collaboration and cooperation between IFLA and UNESCO when developing policies regarding documentary heritage for the world.

If you are interested in knowing more, find a list of MoW events here.