First
Experts' Meeting (12-14 December 1994, Kuala
Lumpur)
The MOW Experts' Meeting for the Asia Pacific
region was convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
under the auspices of UNESCO and the National
Archives of Malaysia. It was attended by official
delegates from 20 countries, 2 resource persons
and 75 other participants as well as the UNESCO
representative.
The meeting adopted a number of recommendations,
urging all member countries in the region to
establish national MOW committees, as well as
setting up a MOW Regional Coordinating Committee.
It recommended that necessary steps should be
taken to seek appropriate representation of
the Asia/Pacific Region in the International
Advisory Committee. The Asia/Pacific Regional
Committee was not established at that point.
First
Special Experts Group Meeting (10-12 December
1997, Xiamen, China)
This meeting brought together 9 experts from
6 countries plus 7 observers from institutions
within China, and a UNESCO representative. Among
the recommendations adopted was a detailed action
plan, including the establishment of a Regional
Committee in the Asia/Pacific region.
First
MOWCAP General Meeting (17-21 November 1998, Beijing,
China)
This meeting formally established the Regional
Committee. It elected a Bureau, adopted objectives
and terms of reference, and prepared a work
plan. The Bureau was charged with the task of
drafting a set of by-laws for the Committee.
It was further agreed that the initial Bureau's
terms of office would be 3 years (until 2001)
and thereafter the Bureau would be elected for
4 years (to mirror the International Advisory
Committee IAC). The full Committee would meet
every two years and the Bureau annually.
Second
MOWCAP General Meeting (7-9 November 2005, Manila,
Philippines)
It was held in Manila , the Philippines
and was attended by some 30 delegates from 15
countries including Australia, Cambodia, China,
Fiji, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia,
Philippines, New Zealand, Tajikistan, Thailand,
Vanuatu and Vietnam.
The second general meeting of the Memory of
the World Regional Committee for Asia-Pacific
(MOWCAP) established the framework for the future
growth of the Program in the region, adopted
a set of statutes and operational rules, and
put in place criteria for the Regional Register
of documentary heritage.
The three-day meeting cum workshop was convened
by the UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific, through the Philippines Information
Agency, the UNESCO National Commission and the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
of the Philippines. The occasion was attended
by some 30 delegates from 15 countries including
Australia, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia,
Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand,
Tajikistan, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
The main outcomes of the Meeting were:
Presentation of reports,
including a region-wide assessment of the
Program and the mentoring work of the Goodwill
Patron, Dr Rujaya Abhakorn;
Adoption of statutes and
rules for MOWCAP, which will now meet every
two years, with its bureau meeting held
annually;
Adoption of criteria for
an Asia-Pacific Regional Register of documentary
heritage, with the first inscriptions to
be announced at the third MOWCAP meeting
in 2007;
Settling of a structure for
the new MOWCAP website planned for launching
in January 2006;
Election of a new Bureau
(to hold office until the 4th MOWCAP meeting
in 2009) and establishment of subcommittees;
Identification of a range
of projects for which funding would be sought.
Such included for example, a survey of audiovisual
collections, and a scheme to safeguard the
"Memory of the Tsunami" which
swept South East Asia on 26 December 2004;
and
Identification of and encouragement
to several new National Memory of the World
Committees currently in the process of formation.
The workshop explored the practical issues in
setting up and running National MOW Committees,
and preparing nominations for the MOW Registers.
Third MOWCAP
General Meeting (17-18 February 2008, National
Library of Australia, Canberra)
The third MOWCAP General Meeting was hosted
by the National Library of Australia, in
Canberra in February 2008. The business of
the meeting included decision-making on the
first set of nominations to be inscribed to the
Regional MOW Register.
The fourth
MOWCAP general meeting, over 8 and 9 March, was
by far the largest to date, attracting some 58
participants from 18 countries. Serving as the
biennial meeting point for the national MOW
committees across the region, the two day
gathering reviewed the activities and strategies
of MOWCAP, which are aimed at strengthening the
work of libraries, archives and museums, raising
awareness of the documentary heritage, and
improving preservation and access skills and
capabilities.
The new inscriptions to the MOWCAP Regional
Register were a highlight of the meeting.
To support
the growing MOWCAP programme, an enlarged Bureau
and officers were elected to serve MOWCAP for
the next four years. All of them serve in a
personal capacity for the benefit of the whole,
not as representatives or advocates of countries
or groups.
Please see the following minutes for details of
the proceedings.
First
MOWCAP Bureau Meeting (26-28 April 1999, Kuala
Lumpur)
Subject to approval at the next Committee meeting,
the Bureau adopted a set of Statutes and Rules.
A work program of MOWCAP for the year 1999-2000
was discussed and formulated. The second Regional
Committee Meeting had also been tentatively
set in December 2000.
Second
MOWCAP Bureau Meeting (12-15 March 2002, Kunming,
China)
The meeting adopted a work plan and the concept
of a "Goodwill Ambassador" was pursued.
The Bureau recognized that the Second Regional
Committee General Meeting was well overdue and
decided it should be held in Kuala Lumpur; this
did not eventuate.
THIRD
INTERNATIONAL ‘MEMORY OF THE WORLD’ CONFERENCE
– CANBERRA, 19 to 22 FEBRUARY 2008
It had been 8 years since the last international
conference (held in Manzanillo, Mexico in 2000)
so this was a major event, surveying,
celebrating and reassessing the Memory of the
World Program. Like the MOWCAP meeting, it was
hosted by the National Library of Australia. The
theme, Communities and memories – a global
perspective" attracted a strong representation from the
Asia Pacific region. For more information on
the outcomes of the conference and the papers
given, go to
http://www.amw.org.au/mow2008/mow2008.htm.
