The network is developing national teams of volunteers trained to come to the aid of documentary treasures that may be threatened with emergencies, notably floods.
The vulnerability of the documentary heritage in libraries and archives continues to increase as disasters become more frequent and more devastating. Many institutions in the region lack sufficient resources to prepare and respond, The first aid volunteers, who include firefighters and university students, will provide urgent support to the memory institutions to prevent loss.
The new network was launched in Panama in June 2021. Training sessions and simulations on disaster risk management were held for local volunteers, including representatives of the National Library, National Archives, Ministry of Culture, Fire Department, National Civil Protection System and Panama’s Scouts. Topics included conducting risk assessments and salvaging books, manuscripts and other documents after a flood.
In 2022, the initiative will be extended to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. It is supported by UNESCO's , which was established in 1992 to promote preservation of documentary heritage, facilitate universal access to it and highlight its world significance.
Similar efforts to prepare memory institutions to face disaster risks are underway in Africa, through the Memory of the World Programme’s three-year project ‘Preservation of Documentary Heritage through Policy Development and Capacity Building ’, supported by the Government of Japan. A similar African initiative was also funded by the National Archives Administration of China, focused on strengthening the capacities of memory institutions on the continent to face up to the impact of COVID-19 and other public emergencies.
