INTRODUCTION
1. The UNESCO Memory of the World Regional
Committee Meeting for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP)
was convened by the UNESCO Regional Office for
Asia and the Pacific, through the Philippine
Information Agency (PIA), UNESCO National Commission
of the Philippines and the National Commission
for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) on 7-9 November,
2005 at the Linden Suites, Pasig City, Philippines.
2. The Meeting's objectives are: to receive
reports from the Bureau, national committees
and the Goodwill Patron; agree on strategies,
parameters for a regional Memory of the World
Register, and regional projects; assist the
development of national Memory of the World
Committees; elect a new bureau and establish
a forward work plan; workshop the preparation
of Register nominations and push forward the
development of "Memory of the World"
within the region.
3. The Meeting was preceded by a Bureau Meeting
on 6 November 2005 and included a workshop on
9 November designed to stimulate the development
of the National Committees and preparation of
nomination proposals for the MOW Register. The
Programme Schedule is attached as Annex
A.
4. Thirty (30) delegates from 15 countries
within the Asia/Pacific Region, namely Australia,
Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Korea,
Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand, Tajikistan,
Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The participants
were members of the MOW National Committees
or representatives of the UNESCO National Commissions.
Please see Annex
B for the complete listing of participants.
OPENING
PROGRAMME
5. The Opening Ceremony for this Regional Meeting
was held at function rooms 2 and 3 of the Linden
Suites at 9:00 am of Monday, November 7, 2005.
6. Deputy Director-General Leon Osmoso gave
the welcome and opening remarks on behalf of
Sec. Renato S. Velasco, Director-General of
the Philippine Information Agency. Ambassador
Preciosa S. Soliven, Secretary-General, UNESCO
National Commission of the Philippines and Ms.
Cecile Guidote Alvarez, Executive Director,
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
delivered a few words on the significance of
the Meeting.
7. Datuk Rahani Jamil, Interim Chair of the
Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the
Pacific returned notes of thanks to the hosts
and organizers of the Meeting.
8. Dir. Belina SB. Capul, Management Information
Systems Division Staff Director of the Philippine
Information Agency and Conference Manager, introduced
the participants and guests.
9. The Keynote Remarks was delivered by Dr.
Susanne Ornager, UNESCO Adviser for Communication
and Information in Asia. She expressed thanks
to Dato' Habibah, founding Chair of the MOWCAP
for her hardwork and dedication to pursue the
goals of MOWCAP in the Region and to Datuk Rahani
Jamil for continuing this work. In her speech,
she presented an overview of the Memory of the
World Programme, its progress and the current
issues confronting the Programme. She also highlighted
the work being undertaken by the interim Bureau.
She hoped that the strategic direction set out
could possibly pave the way for the next Bureau
to effectively achieve the MOWCAP goals. She
stressed the role of the National Committees
as instrument to advance the cause of MOWCAP
in the region.
MEETING
PROPER
10. The Meeting was chaired by Dr. Susanne
Ornager and co-chaired by Ms. Belina SB. Capul
who is a member of the International Sub-Committee
on Marketing and the hosts' representative.
Dr. Ornager informed the Meeting that the Regional
Committee Bureau was functioning on an interim
basis since its members' 4 year term has expired.
Until the election of the new bureau, the conduct
of the proceedings would be the Regional Office's
responsibility. Dr. Ornager dismissed the interim
Bureau and declared the office vacant until
the Bureau's election the next day.
ROLL
CALL AND APPOINTMENT OF RAPPORTEUR
11. With the participants having been introduced
during the Opening Ceremonies, the Meeting proceeded
to appoint Simon Chu, the interim secretary-general
as the Rapporteur for the Meeting.
BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS AND
EXPECTATIONS OF THE MEETING
12. Belina SB. Capul informed the Meeting that
the first day would focus on the rendering of
reports necessary to level expectations on MOWCAP:
the progress of the MOWCAP program; 1998 minutes
of the first committee meeting and past bureau's
activities; reports from the Goodwill Patron,
national MOW Committees, and UNESCO National
Commissions. The main item for day two would
be the election of the Bureau. See Annex
C for the Meeting Agenda.
OVERVIEW
OF INTERNATIONAL MOW PROGRAM
13. Mr. Ray Edmondson, the interim vice-chair
of MOWCAP, gave an overview of the Memory of
the World (MOW) history and organizational structure.
He introduced the "General Guidelines to
Safeguard Documentary Heritage" and discussed
the outcome of the recent MOW IAC Meeting in
Lijiang, China in June, 2005. The full text
of the Report is attached as Annex
D.
14. Mr. Edmondson also presented a report,
commissioned by UNESCO, of MOWCAP's history
and development, difficulties in promoting or
carrying out the MOWCAP Program, future plans
and importance of the National Committees and
the Regional Register. Mr. Edmondson's full
report is attached as Annex
E.
REVIEW
OF MINUTES OF FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING (1998)
AND REPORT ON BUREAU'S ACTIVITIES
15. Simon Chu, the Secretary-General of the
interim Bureau, highlighted the major activities
undertaken and programs to be undertaken by
Committee and Bureau from its inception in 1998
to 2004. See Annex
F for the papers. The minutes of the first
MOWCAP meeting (1998) were reviewed. On the
advice of delegates who had been present at
the meeting, the minutes were confirmed as an
accurate record.
REPORT
FROM GOODWILL PATRON
16. Dr. Rujaya Abhakorn, who was appointed "Goodwill
Patron" by the MOWCAP Bureau and UNESCO,
gave a report on his mission in 4 countries
in the region (Indonesia, Lao PDR, Cambodia
and Vietnam) from March to July, 2005. The concept
of a Goodwill Ambassador was adopted during
the second MOWCAP Bureau Meeting in Kunming
China, 12-15 March 2002. The objective of which
was to raise awareness of the MOWCAP and its
programs and promote the importance of setting-up
National Committees.
17. The Meeting noted Dr. Rujaya's recommendations
on follow-up activities which include the following:
monitoring the progress in the area of awareness
raising, provision of information materials,
assistance to countries with good results, holding
of workshop on selection criteria, selection
of theme to inspire cooperation among countries
in the region and the like. The full text is
attached as Annex
G.
18. The significance of the works of the "Goodwill
Patron" was endorsed and it was regarded
as an effective measure to promote MOWCAP.
REPORTS
FROM NATIONAL MOW COMMITTEES AND UNESCO NATIONAL
COMMISSIONS AND DISCUSSION ON REPORTS
19. Dr. Susanne Ornager gave each participating
country five minutes to render a report on the
status of activities of the MOW National Committees.
For those without National Committees, the report
focused on the plans for setting up a National
Committee. Based on published list, countries
with National Committees include Australia,
China, India, Malaysia and Tajikistan.
Those countries without National Committees
include Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Korea, Laos,
New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu
and Vietnam.
Please refer to Annex
H for the complete set of country reports.
PRESENTATION
AND DISCUSSION ON SETTING-UP AND OPERATING NATIONAL
MOW COMMITTEES
20. Mr. Edmondson discussed the process and
operation of setting up national committees
as reflected in Section 5.2 of the Guidelines.
He emphasized a) the need for UNESCO National
Commission, as legitimate organizers of the
MOW National Committees, to be able to set-up
effective working committees composed of members
from the various collecting profession sectors
who would be able to work together; b) the importance
of National Committees keeping contact with
logical bodies such as MOWCAP and the MOW Secretariat
at the Paris Headquarters for the annual reporting
and for links to continuing education on the
programme; and c) the practicalities that should
be kept in mind such as the composition of the
Committees (to include conservation specialist),
frequency of the meeting, keeping minutes of
the meetings as basis for reporting, and establishing
Sub-Committees.
21. Mr. Edmondson also discussed the National
Register as part of the National Committee operations,
how nominations for the International Register
could be submitted either directly to Paris
or through the Regional or National Committee.
It was pointed out that the Sub-Committee on
Register assesses/evaluates arguments that are
valid and seeks to get a range of opinions from
the logical persons or relevant committees/bodies.
22. Ms. Carmen Padilla of the Philippines suggested
that nominating persons/parties should know
the existence of their own National Committees.
It is an oversight responsibility of any National
Committee to look into nominations of its country.
Hence, the programme should have the dynamics
of dealing with approaches to nominations.
23. Ray Edmondson shared the Australian Experience
as a concrete example of how a National Committee
is set-up in terms of its membership, structure
and commitment expected of members who are leading
practitioners in the field and who came from
various critical heritage sectors with the institutional
credibility to bring about the work of the MOW
Programme.
DISCUSSION
AND ADOPTION OF STATUTES AND RULES
24. The MOWCAP Statutes and Rules were discussed,
based on a draft prepared by the Bureau. The
Meeting noted that provisions on Article 4 of
the Statutes were enhanced to widen its membership
to provide flexibility of participation in MOWCAP
considering that some countries were not necessarily
administered by National MOW Committees. As
such Article 4 reads, "Membership provides
that "a National MOW Committee for the
purpose of the Statutes" includes Sub-Committees
of UNESCO National Commissions and sub-regional
or multinational committees provided these operates
consistently with the relevant provisions of
the MOW General Guidelines." The MOWCAP
Statutes and Rules were formally adopted and
take effect at the end of this meeting. The
text is attached Annex
I.
25. It was agreed that Dr. Susanne Ornager would
seek clarifications with UNESCO Paris regarding
the corporate status of MOWCAP as a body whether
it can receive donations or needs to register
as an independent association.
ADOPTION
OF ELECTION RULES
26. Dr. Susanne Ornager explained the voting
rules based on the stipulation under article
5 of the adopted MOWCAP Statutes which states
that "Each National MOW Committee should
have the right to exercise one vote at MOWCAP
Meetings." However, this rule takes effect
at the end of this meeting. It was discussed
and agreed that for the election purposes at
this 2nd Regional Committee Meeting those delegates
whose countries have not established their National
MOW Committees as reflected in Article 4 of
the Statutes would be allowed to vote. The casting
of votes for countries with two or more representatives
would be assigned to one delegate representative
of the country, namely Allan Howell (Australia),
Hongmin Wang (China), Prabhakaran Nair (Malaysia),
Carmen Padilla (Philippines), Prachark Wattananusit
(Thailand).
EXPLANATION
OF DUTIES - BUREAU SUB-COMMITTEE CHAIRS
27. The proposed duties of the Bureau and the
Sub-Committees were discussed. It has been agreed
that a smaller group of four people (Chair,
Vice-Chair, Secretary-General and UNESCO Advisor)
will comprise the MOWCAP Bureau, to be supported
by needed Sub-Committees. The previous duties
of the Treasurer would be absorbed by the Secretary-General.
The Bureau would serve for four years and would
perform their assigned duties mostly on voluntary
basis. Details of their duties are described
in the Rules of Procedures of the Bureau (6-9),
included in Annex
I.
ELECTION
OF THE BUREAU
28. The Meeting elected the following as members
of the MOWCAP Bureau: Mr. Ray Edmondson (nominated
by Sudhendo Mandal of India) as Chair, Carmen
Padilla (nominated by Allan Howell from Australia)
as Vice-Chair, and Simon Chu (nominated by Mr.
Prachark Wattananusit of Thailand) was elected
as Secretary-General.
29. Dr. Susanne Ornager stepped down as Chair
of the Meeting and Mr. Ray Edmondson took over
to continue the conduct of the Meeting.
REGIONAL
MOW REGISTER - ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES AND PROCESS
30. Mr. Ray Edmondson presented the draft Regional
Register Guidelines which was modelled after
the established MOW General Guidelines. It contained
an introduction to the MOW Programme, the Regional
Register, the nomination process and selection
criteria among others.
31. The Meeting adopted the Regional MOW Register
Guidelines which appears as Annex
J. It was agreed that the Register should
operate on a biennial schedule so that the first
set of inscriptions should be announced at the
2007 meeting of MOWCAP. The nomination process
will be established in conjunction with the
new MOWCAP Register Subcomittee.
REGIONAL
MOW WEBSITE
32. Mr. Simon Chu explained the website designed
and informed the Meeting that the website address
of MOWCAP could be accessed at http://www.unesco.mowcap.org
Development was underway and the website would
be launched by end of January, 2006. The MOWCAP
website shall be registered in Hong Kong and
administered by the newly-elected Secretary-General.
Basically, its contents would be MOWCAP's basic
structure, events and other activities, adopted
Statutes, Bureau Rules of Procedure, Regional
Register Guidelines, gallery, links to related
websites and the Secretariat's contact point.
While the National Committee websites will be
hyperlinked to the Regional website, direct
contributions from members will be solicited.
REGIONAL
PROJECTS
33. The Meeting drew a list of 12 projects
either for funding and/or implementation. It
designated country(s) in-charge to prepare the
project proposals for funding consideration
and/or coordination. Please refer to Annex
K for the complete listing of projects.
34. Project proposals may use the format included
in the MOW Guidelines or any other templates
which may be downloaded from the UNESCO website
and later from the MOWCAP website once it is
up by January, 2006.
35. The reasonable time frame agreed for the
preparation of the project proposal was set
at two months from the date of this Meeting.
Final date set was end of January 2006. It was
agreed that the project proposals will be submitted
to the Bureau through the Secretary-General,
Simon Chu.
Coffee
Table Book
36. It was noted that the coffee table book
that would be published will be released in
conjunction with the International Council of
Archives Congress in 2008 in Kuala Lumpur which
will be hosted by the National Archives of Malaysia.
The Meeting agreed that the ICA Conference would
be a good opportunity to raise awareness on
the programme and highlight some of the region's
heritage materials. A similar book had already
been produced in China which highlighted China's
own registry. The next step would be to develop
the whole publication strategy.
Collection Risk
Assessment Survey
37. The Meeting was informed that the Collection
Risk Assessment Survey Project would take about
6 months to carry out and would be organised
by the SEAPAVAA Technical Committee. It would
be participated in by all those institutions
of the countries listed in the project proposal.
While the funding requirement of US$85,000 is
enormous, UNESCO MOWCAP's endorsement would
help secure the funds for its implementation.
After considering the proposal (attached at
Annex
L ) the meeting endorsed the project.
Training Workshops
38. Ms. Sun Kyung Lee of Korea reported that
a number of MOW training workshops in Korea
which were endorsed by the Korean UNESCO National
Commission and lined up for implementation could
be listed as part of MOWCAP activities. The
Meeting noted, however, that the Committee may
still have to endorse them to be listed as MOWCAP
projects.
Goodwill Patron
39. The Meeting agreed to recommend its endorsement
of the Goodwill Patron continuation to UNESCO
Regional Office through its Advisor, Dr. Susanne
Ornager, for its further consideration.
Regional Register
40. In order to raise awareness on MOWCAP,
the Meeting recommended the immediate setting
up of the Regional Register, adoption of its
Register Guidelines, the process and the issuance
of invitation for nomination proposals to the
International Register. This would require establishing
MOWCAP's own Register Sub-Committee with experts
comprising it.
41. The Bureau's role in pursuing its establishment
was noted including publicizing to the public
the process of nomination proposals for the
MOW Register.
MOWCAP Communication
42. The issue of communication among MOWCAP
members was raised. This was particularly important
for the purpose of developing nomination proposals
for the International Register.
FUND-RAISING
AND FINANCING OF MOWCAP
43. The general financial situation of MOWCAP
was reviewed. Ways to generate financial resources
were explored including a) securing some level
of funding from UNESCO; b) seeking donation
or funding for projects from NGOs, big organizations
and sponsors, and c) profit sharing with vendors
from using MOWCAP logo in products.
44. Issues related to the generation of financial
resources for the Committee were discussed.
These included:
