Member States to submit implementation reports on the Recommendation on preservation of documentary heritage

Following the launch of the second consultation for the implementation of the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation Concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage Including in Digital Form, UNESCO Member States are set to submit reports on their implementation of this standard-setting instrument over the past four years.

In preparing their reports, Member States are encouraged to organize necessary consultations with concerned ministries and institutions, notably with key conservation institutions, national Memory of the World committees, professional associations, civil society partners and National Commissions for UNESCO. To this end, Member States are invited to use the questionnaire enclosed in the circular letter recently issued by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.

National Commissions for UNESCO are also invited to an online meeting on the implementation of normative instruments in Communication and Information to be held on 26 September 2022, which includes a session on the 2015 Recommendation.

The Secretariat will submit to the 216th session of the Executive Board, in spring 2023, the second consolidated report on the implementation by Member States of this standard-setting instrument for its consideration. This report, together with the comments of the Executive Board’s Committee on Conventions and Recommendations, will subsequently be submitted to the 42nd session of the General Conference in 2023.

The adoption of the 2015 Recommendation marked a milestone demonstrating a shared international commitment to safeguarding the documentary heritage that constitutes the memory of the peoples of the world and reflects their diversity, especially given its fragility in the face of various threats such as the ravage of time, natural disasters and human behaviour.

Ongoing efforts by Member States, as documented in their reports during the first consultation, indicate that the instrument has been useful in building partnerships and mobilizing resources to pursue the permanent preservation of valuable collections and the records of humanity, including providing remedies to challenges such as digital content migration in the face of technological obsolescence, and facilitating affordable digitization to avoid costly outsourcing alternatives. New experiences, identifying emerging challenges and exhibiting good practices of Member States remains central to strengthening the instrument to elevate cultural identities internationally.