UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction.[1] 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.[2] [3]
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 via UNESCO Member States through their National Commission for UNESCO or, in the absence of a National Commission, the relevant government body in charge of relations with UNESCO, involving, if one exists, the relevant national MoW committee. Two proposals per UNESCO Member State are considered in each nomination cycle, joint nomination proposals from two or more UNESCO Member States are unlimited. During its meetings, the International Advisory Council (IAC) examines the full documentation of the item's description, origin, world significance, and contemporary state of conservation. The IAC recommends to the Executive Board of UNESCO the items proposed for inscription.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6] The program is administered by the International Advisory Committee (IAC), whose 14 members are appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO. 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,[7] 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.[8] The IAC also maintains several subsidiary bodies:[9]
The Memory of the World International Register is a compendium of the world's documentary heritage – such as manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, and library and archive holdings. It catalogues documentary heritage that has been recommended by the International Advisory Committee, and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO, according to the selection criteria regarding "world significance and outstanding universal value."[10]
The first inscriptions on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register were made in 1997. 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 fundraising – 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.
Among the various properties in the register include recordings of folk music; ancient languages and phonetics; aged remnants of religious and secular manuscripts; collective lifetime works of renowned giants of literature; science and music; copies of landmark motion pictures and short films; and accounts documenting changes in the world's political, economic, and social stage.
As of December 2018, 432 documentary heritages had been inscribed in the register, with 274 of these from Europe and North America and 116 from Asia and the Pacific.[11] In the Asia-Pacific region, in 2014–2015, there were 18 member nations of MOWCAP (6 without national committees), while in 2016, there were 16 national MoW committees.[12]
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.
| Region | Number of inscriptions to the Register | Number of countries/organizations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memory of the World Register – Africa | 24 | ||
| Memory of the World Register – Arab States | 13 | ||
| Memory of the World Register – Asia and the Pacific | 116 | ||
| Memory of the World Register – Europe and North America | 274 | ||
| Memory of the World Register – Latin America and the Caribbean | 93 | ||
| Memory of the World Register – Other | 7 | ||
| Total | 429 main + 3 additional | 523 main + 4 additional |
| Rank | Country | Number of inscriptions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany | 30 |
| 2 |  United Kingdom | 24 |
| 3 |  Netherlands | 21 |
| 4 |  France | 20 |
| 5 |  Poland | 18 |
| 5 | 18 | |
| 7 |  Austria | 16 |
| 8 | 15 | |
| 8 | 15 | |
| 10 |  Spain | 14 |
Biennial meetings of the International Advisory Committee are used to discuss and inscribe items onto the Register. The meeting takes place every odd year:
| IAC Session | Date | Site | IAC chairperson | Number of nominations evaluated | Number of inscriptions to the Register | References | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1993 Sept 12–14 | Pułtusk, Poland | Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada) | none | none | ||
| 2nd | 1995 May 3–5 | Paris, France | Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada) | none | none | ||
| 3rd | 1997 Sept 29 – Oct 1 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada) | 69 | 38 | ||
| Bureau Meeting | 1998 Sept 4–5 | London, United Kingdom | Jean-Pierre Wallot (Canada) | none | none | ||
| 4th | 1999 Jun 10–12 | Vienna, Austria | Bendik Rugaas (Norway) | 20 | 9 | ||
| 5th | 2001 Jun 27–29 | Cheongju, South Korea | Bendik Rugaas (Norway) | 42 | 21 | [13] | |
| 6th | 2003 Aug 28–30 | Gdańsk, Poland | Ekaterina Genieva (Russian Federation) | 41 | 23 | [14] | |
| 7th | 2005 Jun 13–18 | Lijiang, China | Deanna B. Marcum (US) | 53 | 29 | [15] | |
| 8th | 2007 Jun 1–15 | Pretoria, South Africa | Alissandra Cummins (Barbados) | 53 | 38 | [16] | |
| 9th | 2009 Jul 27–31 | Bridgetown, Barbados | Roslyn Russell (Australia) | 55 | 35 | [17] [18] | |
| 10th | 2011 May 22–25 | Manchester, United Kingdom | Roslyn Russell (Australia) | 84 | 45 | [19] | |
| 11th | 2013 Jun 18–21 | Gwangju, South Korea | Helena R Asamoah-Hassan (Ghana) | 84 | 56 | [20] | |
| 12th | 2015 Oct 4–6 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Abdulla El Reyes (United Arab Emirates) | 86 | 44 | [21] | |
| 13th | 2017 Oct 24–27 | Paris, France | Abdulla El Reyes (United Arab Emirates) | 132 | 78 | [22] | |
| 14th | 2023 Mar 8-10, Apr 11 | Paris, France + online | 88 | 64 | [23] |
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.[24] 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 biannually since 2005 during the meeting of the IAC.