CHARLESTOWN, March 26, 2018.Nevis was represented at a two day (March 19th-20th, 2018) training workshop for UNESCO’s Information for all Program (IFAP) and Memory of the World (MOW) Committees in the Eastern Caribbean held in St Vincent and Grenadines.
Ms Pauline Ngunjiri, Deputy Director, Nevis Historical and Conservation Society represented the society at the workshop.
In each country, the MOM initiative is driven by a national committee. The initiative encourages countries to preserve documented heritage. “The shared memories help us understand each other. The project is a noble way of helping societies protect historical documents. It is also a very methodical way of creating equitable societies through better access to information,” Ms Ngunjiri said.
The Original Register of Slaves is the documentary heritage submitted by St. Kitts that is included in the Memory of the World Register. MOW Register lists documentary heritage which has been recommended by the International Advisory Committee, and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO; as corresponding to the selection of criteria regarding world significance and outstanding universal value.
Ms Ngunjiri is convinced St. Kitts and Nevis does not need to dig deep to have documentary heritage inscripted: “In St. Kitts and Nevis, there exists outstanding documentary heritage of great universal value. I am optimistic that the national committee will be active again so that it can facilitate inscriptions of great universal value.”
During the opening ceremony, the Minister of Education and Chair of SVG’s National Commission for UNESCO, Hon St. Clair Prince, spoke about the importance of the digital age. “While this is not new, as digitization is inescapable in today’s world, we must not lose sight of its importance in the scheme of things,” he said.
The adviser for Communication and Information at UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean headquartered in Jamaica, Isabel Viera, talked of the importance of access to information. She encouraged countries represented to establish Information for All Programme(IFAP) Committees to facilitate equitable participation in knowledge societies. She called for active and effective national committees. “Greater visibility is crucial,” she noted.
During the two days workshop, presentations were made on the information for all programs and the roles of the National IFAP Committees; Digital Media – it’s importance in developing human capacity to transform small islands developing states and documenting our heritage through digitalization.
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