UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative that recognises documentary heritage of global importance. It aims to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction.[1] It calls for the preservation of valuable archival holdings, library collections, and private individual compendia all over the world for posterity and increased accessibility to, and public awareness of, these items.[1][2][3]
Following the establishment of the Memory of the World International Register, UNESCO and the Memory of the World Programme have encouraged the creation of autonomous national and regional committees as well as national and regional registers which focus on documentary heritage of great regional or national importance, but not necessarily of global importance.[4]
The Memory of the World International Register is a list of the world's documentary heritage with outstanding global significance – such as manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, and library and archive holdings.[1] It catalogues documentary heritage that has been recommended by the International Advisory Committee, and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO, according to the selection criteria regarding "world significance and outstanding universal value."[6] With the inscription on the International Register, the Memory of the World Programme aims to highlight the documentary heritage’s exceptional value. It aims to encourage memory institutions to raise awareness about their documentary heritage and to improve conservation of the documentary heritage by calling upon the program's networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for the preservation, digitization, and dissemination of the material.[3] The program also uses technology to provide wider accessibility and diffusion of information about the items inscribed on the register.[3]
The first inscriptions on the International Register were made in 1997.[3][7] The various properties in the register include recordings of folk music; ancient languages and phonetics; aged remnants of religious and secular manuscripts; collective lifetime works of renowned giants of literature; science and music; copies of landmark motion pictures and short films; and accounts documenting changes in the world's political, economic, and social stage.
As of April 2025, 570 pieces of documentary heritage had been inscribed in the International Register.[8]
The program is not without controversy. During the 2015 cycle, for example, there was a significant degree of conflict within East Asia, as registry with the MoW Program was becoming viewed as an approval of particular views of contested history, specifically with respect to the Nanjing Massacre and the comfort women.[9]
Any organization or individual can nominate a documentary item for inscription on the International Register via UNESCO Member States through their National Commission for UNESCO. In the absence of a National Commission, the nomination is sent through the relevant government body in charge of relations with UNESCO, involving, if one exists, the relevant national MoW committee.[10] Two proposals per UNESCO Member State are considered in each nomination cycle. There is no limit on joint nomination proposals from two or more UNESCO Member States.
The program is administered by the International Advisory Committee (IAC), whose 14 members are appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO.[1][3] During its meetings, the IAC examines the full documentation of the item's description, origin, world significance, contemporary state of conservation and other criteria for admissibility. The IAC recommends to the Executive Board of UNESCO the items proposed for inscription.[11] The IAC is responsible for the formulation of major policies, including the technical, legal and financial framework for the program. It also maintains several subsidiary bodies:[12]
Bureau: Maintains an overview of the Programme between IAC meetings and makes tactical decisions in liaison with the Secretariat, reviews the use of the Memory of the World logo, and liaises with national Memory of the World committees and monitors their growth and operation.
The Preservation Sub-Committee: Develops, regularly revises and promulgates information guides on the preservation of documentary heritage, and offers advice on technical and preservation matters.
Register Sub-Committee: Oversees the assessment of nominations for the Memory of the World International Register and provides recommendations, with reasons, for their inscription or rejection to each meeting of the IAC.
Education and Research Sub-committee: Develops strategies and concepts for institutionalizing education and research on documentary heritage and helps developing innovative curricula and research on Memory of the World.
The Secretariat at UNESCO: Provides support services to the International Advisory Committee (IAC) and its subsidiary bodies, and the general administration and monitoring of the Program. It is the contact point of the Program.[13]
The Memory of the World Programme is implemented by UNESCO through regional and national committees. These committees are autonomous from UNESCO and are composed of dedicated local heritage professionals.[14]
National and regional registers
Some national and regional Memory of the World committees maintain their own Memory of the World registers, highlighting documentary heritage of great national or regional importance. National registers include:
Latin America and the Caribbean regional register[19]
The Asia Pacific Regional Register and the Register for Latin America and the Caribbean[20] have already honoured important documentary heritage of their regions, while the African Regional Register is currently being established.[21] In the Asia-Pacific region, in 2014–2015, there were 18 member nations of MOWCAP (6 without national committees), while in 2016, there were 16 national MoW committees.[9]
Jikji Prize
The Jikji, created in 1377, is the earliest known book printed with movable metal type.
The Jikji Prize was established in 2004 by UNESCO[22] in cooperation with the South Korean government to further promote the objectives of the Memory of the World Programme, and to commemorate the 2001 inscription of the country's Jikji on the Register.[23] The award, which includes a cash prize of $30,000 from the Korean government, recognizes institutions that have contributed to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage.[24]
The prize has been awarded biannually since 2005 during the meeting of the IAC.[24]
In 1992, the program began as a way to preserve and promote documentary heritage, manuscripts, maps, rock inscriptions, court documents, diplomatic exchanges and more that are deemed to be of such global significance as to transcend the boundaries of time and culture.[1] This recorded memory reflects the diversity of languages, people, and cultures.[24] UNESCO, the world agency responsible for the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage, realized the need to protect such fragile yet important component of cultural heritage. The Memory of the World Programme was established to facilitate the preservation of, universal access to, and public awareness about humanity's documentary heritage.[31]
People the world over are creating [memories] in forms that are less and less permanent—be it sound recordings, film, videotape, newsprint, photographs, or computer-based documents. It must be said that the output of the present century alone is probably greater than the total output of all previous centuries put together; and ironically and tragically, it is being lost faster than ever before. It is a tragedy indeed, for what is at stake is the recorded memory of mankind.
— Dato’ Habibah Zon, Director-General of the National Archives of Malaysia, introduction from UNESCO MEMORY OF THE WORLD PROGRAMME: The Asia-Pacific Strategy, 17 April 1999[1]
Regular meetings were held by the IAC in its interim capacity beginning in 1993, culminating in the creation of the Memory of the World International Register during its second meeting in 1995,[1][7] with the first inscriptions on the register in 1997, after the statutes that created the IAC as a standing committee took effect.[32]
Memory of the World IAC meetings
Biennial meetings of the International Advisory Committee are used to discuss and inscribe items onto the register. The meeting normally takes place in odd-numbered years:
^Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific. "MOWCAP Regional Register". Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
Buckley, Kristal; Darian-Smith, Kate (2023). "International Conflict, National Pasts, and UNESCO World Heritage and Memory of the World". In Sluga, Glenda; Darian-Smith, Kate; Herren, Madeleine (eds.). Sites of International Memory. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 294–320. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2zjz7d9.16. ISBN978-1-5128-2406-3. OCLC1376193602.
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