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Current challenges for documentary heritage and how memory institutions are responding in Latin America and the Caribbean
As a concrete implementation of the , this Conference aimed to:
a) Analize and debate current trends and challenges faced by Memory Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, regarding preservation and access to documentary heritage, policy implementation and international and regional cooperation.
b) Share knowledge and best practices and strength effective cooperation mechanisms among National MoW Committees and the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Memory of the World Programme (MoWLAC).
c) Identify successful protocols and response mechanisms on risk reduction, early warning systems and disaster management, including those linked to climate change.
More than 40 documentary heritage experts from 18 countries in the region (Aruba, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay) participated in the Conference, funded by the People of Japan.
The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of Sint Maarten, Hon. Melissa Gumbs, highlighted “the role that documentary heritage plays in preserving the soul of our cultures. These invaluable records of our past -composed of signs, codes, sounds and images- must remain safeguarded against threats, whether they arise from natural disasters, environmental degradation or societal changes”.
Despite this, documentary heritage faces significant challenges around the world, such as lack of resources, looting, natural disasters, wars and illegal trade that make documentary heritage susceptible to destruction or loss, threatening its preservation for the benefit of humanity.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, management and organizational risks are considered to be the highest, a category of risks that includes insufficient resources. “According to the Memory of the World Observatory in Latin America and the Caribbean, 22% of the documents that are part of the regional Memory of the World register face management and organizational risks”, said UNESCO´s Regional Communication and Information Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rosa M. González.
‘However, despite the existing challenges and risks for documentary heritage, 30% of custodian institutions still do not have a management plan for the comprehensive conservation of their documentary heritage and only 33% have a response protocol in case of natural disasters. As for digitalization and access to heritage, 35% of the regional registry is fully digitalized and only 25% of the digitalized heritage is fully accessible on the web”, the Regional Advisor added.
The outgoing Chair of the MoWLAC Regional Committee, Peter Scholing, highlighted “the work done by documentary heritage experts and the impact that one person, one initiative, one National Memory of the World Committee or the submission of one nomination to the registry can have on the safeguarding of heritage, paying tribute to the work of the great documentary heritage expert from Sint Maarten, Alfonso Blijden, who passed away in May 2022”.
The reflections and debates of the experts gathered in Sint Maarten were nurtured with visits to the island's memory institutions, such as the Department of Records (Archives), the National Heritage Foundation & Museum and the Land Registry (Archives).
