Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific

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Celebrating Twenty Years of MOWCAP Inscriptions

The Memory of the World: Documentary Heritage on the Asia-Pacific Register is a detailed guide to the 46 items of documentary heritage listed on the Asia Pacific regional register of the Memory of the World up until 2016.

The regional register for Memory of the World was established in 2008. Between 2008 and 2016,  46 items of documentary heritage from 23 countries were inscribed onto the register. The register contains a rich variety of documentary heritage, reflecting the immense cultural, linguistic, economic and political diversity of the Asia-Pacific region.

The publication was made possible through the support of UNESCO Bangkok, the City of Andong, and technical support from the Korean Studies Institute and Korean National Commission for UNESCO, as well as a number of MoW experts.

Meeting on the UNESCO Category 2 International Centre

Second Expert Consultation Meeting on the UNESCO Category 2 International Centre for Documentary Heritage, Cheongju, Republic of Korea, 28-30 September 2018

A new UNESCO Category 2 Centre for Documentary Heritage was approved by General Conference in 2017, to be established in the city of Cheongju, Republic of Korea, as the International Centre for Documentary Heritage (ICDH).

As part of the development of the ICDH, a number of MoW experts participated in a consultation meeting in Paris in April 2018, followed in late September by a second meeting in Cheongju that coincided with the award of the Jikji Prize.

The expert group – Dr Ray Edmondson, Mr Jan Bos, Ms Joie Springer, Professor Kyung-ho Suh, Mr Papa Momar Diop, Dr Ramesh Gaur, and Dr Roslyn Russell ‒ provided feedback on the ICDH planning process before the workshop. This was discussed further in Cheongju at meetings that also included representatives of the National Archives of Korea and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and Dr Fackson Banda, Programme Specialist for the MoW Programme. The group also visited the World Heritage-listed Beopjusa Temple, and crafted lotus-shaped lanterns.

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Asia-Pacific Workshop Held in Seoul July 2018

Dr Roslyn Russell provided this report on the nomination workshop held in Seoul in July 2018

Delegates from Afghanistan, the Cook Islands, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Samoa, Singapore, Tajikistan, and Tuvalu gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in July this year for the biannual workshop to improve nominations to the Memory of the World registers. The workshop was organised by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea.

The participating delegates worked on improving draft nominations. Presentations on the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme and the nomination process were given by a group of MoW experts that included MOWCAP members Dr Ray Edmondson, Dr Helen Jarvis, Professor Kyung-ho Suh and Dr Roslyn Russell; and Mr Jan Bos, Chair of the Register Sub-Committee for the International Register, and Ms Joie Springer, former Chief of Secretariat of Memory of the World in UNESCO Paris.

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Ten New Inscriptions on MOWCAP Register

Ten new inscriptions to the MOWCAP register were approved at the MOWCAP 8th General Meeting held in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, from 29 May – 31 May.

-Agreements with Native Governments (1893-1916), Tuvalu
-The Anandacandra Stone Inscription, Republic of the Union of Myanmar
-The Archives of Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics, People’s Republic of China
-Culion Leprosy Archives, Republic of the Philippines
-The Envoyship Journeys to China, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
-The Four Treatises of Tibetan Medicine, People’s Republic of China
-Maninso: Ten Thousand People’s Petitions, Republic of Korea
-The Emerald Jungle (Mya Ga Naing), Republic of the Union of Myanmar
-Name Boards and Verse Plaques on Royal Architecture of the Joseon Dynasty, Republic of Korea.
-World War Two Records – British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP), Solomon Islands

UNESCO and Inria open the Archive of the Digital Age

UNESCO Press Release No.2018-48

Softwareheritage.org, UNESCO and Inria open the Archive of the Digital Age

Paris, 06 June—UNESCO and Inria will open the archive of Softwareheritage.org, a worldwide initiative to create a universal library of computer programme source codes since the dawn of the digital age on June 7.

One year after the signing of a partnership agreement between Inria and UNESCO, the launch event at UNESCO’s Headquarters on 7 June (3 to 4.30 pm), will include a demonstration of the website’s functions, with the participation of François Sillion, Chief Executive Officer of the French National Institute for computer science and applied mathematics (Inria).
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Tuvalu Establishes National Committee

Tuvalu has established a Memory of the World Committee which will now manage, assess and nominate inscriptions onto the Tuvalu Memory of the World National Register for inscription and also support Tuvalu nominations to international registers.

The establishement of the Committee was made possible by funding assistance received from the UNESCO Apia Office and the facilitating and guidance of the Tuvalu National Library and Archives together with the Tuvalu National Commission Officer to UNESCO.
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UNESCO Documentary Heritage Recommendation

MOWCAP has been working closely with UNESCO to implement the Recommendation, Concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage, Including in Digital Form in the Asia–Pacific. UNESCO, Bangkok, has developed  a brochure to provide information about the Recommendation.

Background:

At the 38th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2015, 195 countries voted unanimously in favor of the introduction of a new UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage Including in Digital Form.

Arranged by five thematic areas – namely (1) Identification of documentary heritage, (2) Preservation of documentary heritage, (3) Access to documentary heritage, (4) Policy measures and (5) National and international cooperation), the Recommendation addresses both the technical and strategic issues that arise in the preservation and use of documentary heritage. It provides practical and actionable recommendations that can be used by governments, memory institutions, the private sector, professional associations, academia and others organizations and individuals operating in the area of documentary heritage.

Recommendation text:

The Recommendation is available in the following languages:

Action Plans to Implement the Recommendation in the Asia-Pacific:

In May 2017, a first regional consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation resulted in the adoption of the UNESCO-ASEAN Member States Action Plan for the Implementation of the Recommendation. ASEAN Member States, museums, archives and libraries have raised that one of the main challenges in the region for safeguarding documentary heritage is the lack of awareness amongst policy-makers and the public on the significance of documentary heritage.

In August 2017, the regional seminar on strengthening cooperation for the preservation and access to documentary heritage held in Tehran resulted in the adoption of the Regional Cooperation Plan for the Implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Documentary Heritage in Western and Central Asia. Delegates from Iran, Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan participated in the meeting and raised the challenges of accessing to documentary heritage located outside the countries or owned by the private. The regional cooperation plan put the emphasis on capacity-building and identification of documentary heritage for joint nominations.

In September 2017, the regional workshop held in Fiji in conjunction with the Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council of Archives biennial meeting resulted in the development of the Pacific Member States Action Plan for the Implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Documentary Heritage. Delegates from Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu attended the workshop and helped to develop the plan of action.

Source: UNESCO Bangkok

Pacific Action Plan on Implementation of UNESCO Recommendation

The Pacific Action Plan was initially developed at a workshop held on Wednesday 6 September 2017 in Suva, Fiji.  The workshop was held in conjunction with the PARBICA (Pacific Regional Branch of the International  Council of Archives) biennial meeting and was made possible through the support of PARBICA and funding from the Asia Culture Centre.

Delegates who attended all or part of the workshop were from Australia, Federated States of Micronesia (including YAP, Ponhnpei ), Fiji, Kiribati,  New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Following the workshop there was consultation with other Pacific documentary heritage experts.

Information on all the action plans can be viewed here

 

MOWCAP Bureau Elections Update

Elections for the MOWCAP Bureau will be held at the next General Meeting in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. The key points of the MOWCAP voting process are summarized below:

–          1 Chairperson, 3 Vice-Chairpersons and 1 Secretary-General will be elected

–          The order of election will be as follows: first the Secretary-General, then the Chairperson and finally the three Vice-Chairpersons

–          All MoW National Committees that have submitted the annual reports will have the right to vote

–          The voting will be conducted by secret ballot and decisions will be taken by a simple majority

–          Special Advisors will be appointed by the newly elected Bureau after the General Meeting

–          If there is only one candidate for the Secretary-General’s position and there are no objections, we do not proceed to a vote

–          If there is only one candidate for the Chairperson’s position and there are no objections, we do not proceed to a vote

–          If there are 3 or less than 3 candidates for the Vice-Chairpersons’ positions and there are no objections, we do not proceed to a vote

–          The voting process will be chaired and scrutineered by UNESCO staff

–          One candidate may apply to several positions

Note: The candidates’ application forms, statements in support of the nomination, and other supporting documents will be distributed to registered delegates one week prior to the General Meeting meeting.

Myanmar News

UNESCO has been working with stakeholders in Myanmar to support the identification, preservation and access to the country’s documentary heritage within the framework of the Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme. In cooperation with the Myanmar National Commission for UNESCO and the Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation.

Read more about this important initiative including the workshop that took place in Yangon on 20, 21 February 2018.

 

 

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