Q1.
What is UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Program?
A1. UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Program
UNESCO's MOW Program (www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm)
is an international cooperation strategy aimed
at safeguarding, protecting and facilitating access
to and the use of documentary heritage, especially
heritage that is rare and endangered. UNESCO launched
the Program in 1992 to guard against collective
amnesia by calling upon the preservation of invaluable
archive holdings and library collections all over
the world and ensuring their wide dissemination.
MOW Program recognizes documentary heritage
of international, regional and national significance,
maintains registers of it, and awards a logo to
identify it. It facilitates preservation, and
access without discrimination. It campaigns to
raise awareness of the documentary heritage, to
alert governments, the general public, business
and commerce to preservation needs, and to raise
funds.
A2. MOW Program - Program Structure and Management.
The MOW Program is administered by a three-tier
committee structure: international, regional and
national. The basic purpose of the structure
is to ensure that member states are able to establish
a mechanism at the national and regional levels
in order to facilitate the final selection of
the projects for the program.
International
Advisory Committee (IAC)
The Director-General of UNESCO appoints an International
Advisory Committee (IAC) with 14 members to
guide the planning and the implementation of
the MOW Program as a whole and make recommendations
concerning fund-raising, the allocation of funds
and the granting of the "Memory of the
World" Label to the projects selected.
The Director-General convenes the IAC in ordinary
session every two years.
MOW International Register
A Memory of the World Register is being maintained
to list all documentary heritage identified
by the IAC as meeting the selection criteria
for world significance.
Regional
MOW Committee
Regional committees are cooperative structures
that bring together people from two or more
countries in order to pursue the Program's objectives.
Regional committees, such that of the Asia/Pacific
Regional Committee (MOWCAP), provides a means
of addressing issues which fall outside the
practical scope of the IAC on the one hand,
and of individual national committees on the
other, and provide a mechanism for cooperation
and complementation beyond the national level.
Membership would normally include representatives
of the national committees.
Terms of reference for regional committees will
vary with need, but they could include:
Maintaining a
regional Memory of the World Register.
Nominating groups of documentary
heritage to the regional or international
registers that cross national boundaries
or are otherwise unlikely to be proposed.
Encouraging cooperation and
training within the region.
Managing projects within the
region.
"Backstopping" for
countries in the region that do not have
national committees.
Encouraging the establishment
of national committees and coaching them.
Region-wide coordination of
publicity and awareness-raising
National MOW Committee
Member states are encouraged to set up MOW national
committee to identify and selects projects, submit
them to the IAC or its regional committee, follow
them up and raise funds for their implementation.
MOW national committee may set up their own National
Register to identify the documentary inheritance
of the nation.
Q3.
What are the relationship between international,
regional and national committees for the MOW
Program?
A3. International, Regional and National Committees
- Relationship
IAC is the peak body responsible for
advising UNESCO on the planning and implementation
of the Program as a whole. It monitors the global
progress of the Program, considers reports from
regional committees and in turn advises these
bodies on their functions and responsibilities.
National committees are basically autonomous
entities with their own terms of reference and
their own rules of membership and succession.
To be entitled to use the Memory of the World
names and logo, however, they must be accredited
by their UNESCO National Commission, and will
normally be expected to show an operational
link with, and demonstrated support of, their
National Commission for UNESCO and their regional
MOW committee (if any).
Regional Committees are subsidiaries
of IAC and are cooperative structures that bring
together people from two or more countries from
a region in order to pursue the Program's objectives.
Regional committees, such that of the Asia/Pacific
Regional Committee (MOWCAP), provide a means
of addressing issues which fall outside the
practical scope of the IAC on the one hand,
and of individual national committees on the
other, and provide a mechanism for cooperation
and complementation beyond the national level.
Q4.
What is Memory of the World Committee for Asia/Pacific
(MOWCAP)?
A4. Memory of the World Committee for Asia/Pacific
(MOWCAP)
MOWCAP, which was set up in 1998 during its
First General Meeting held in Beijing, China,
is a subsidiary body of the International Advisory
Committee (IAC) which itself was established
in 1992 by UNESCO. MOWCAP embraces the Asia/Pacific
region of 43 countries - one of the five UNESCO
regions across the globe. MOWCAP is composed
of UNESCO National Committee for MOW Program
in the Asia/Pacific region. It is a cooperative
structure through which people from two or countries
in the region can be brought together to pursue
the objectives of the MOW Program.
Q5.
What are the roles played by MOWCAP in the MOW
Program?
A5. Objectives and Functions of MOWCAP
MOWCAP's Objectives
:
Promotes,
facilitates and monitors the MOW Program
within the Asia/Pacific region
Represents the region at the
international level
Supports and facilitates nominations
and encourages adequate representation of
the region's documentary heritage in the
Regional and International MOW Registers
Supports and complements the
work of the National MOW Committees
Seeks to raise awareness of
the Program and of the documentary heritage
in the Asia/Pacific region.
MOWCAP's
Functions:
Increases
awareness of the importance of documentary
heritage, improves its accessibility and
use
Promotes resource sharing
and optimal use of resources in the region
Mobilizes
political, social and economic support
for the MOW Asia/Pacific Program
Encourages
cross country linkages of valuable collections
of multi-country/cultural significance
Encourages
the establishment of National MOW Committees
Maintains the Asia/Pacific
Regional Register of MOW documentary heritage
Discusses the selection criteria
and any other matters determined by the
International Advisory Committee and make
recommendations
Mobilizes
resources and supports for MOW projects/activities
MOWCAP also maintains an Asia/Pacific Regional
Register of the MOW documentary heritage, a
listing of documentary heritage of influence
in the Asia/Pacific region. MOWCAP is the authority
that approves inscriptions on the Asia/Pacific
MOW Register. It assesses nominations from members
through its Asia/Pacific Register Subcommittee
against established selection criteria.
Q6.
How can one prepare and submit nominations to
MOWCAP?
A6. Preparing and Submitting Nominations
Nominations for the Asia/Pacific Regional MOW
Register may be submitted by any person or organization,
including government and non-government organizations.
However, priority will be given to nominations
made by or through the relevant National
MOW Committee, or failing that, through
the relevant UNESCO National Commission.
Priority will also be given to documentary heritage
at risk.
Applicants are strongly advised to follow the
prescribed procedures and format as laid down
in the MOWCAP General Guidelines
especially paragraphs 1.5 and 1.6 when
preparing a nomination for submission. MOWCAP
would also provide guidance on this regard.
