Unesco

Ref.: CL/4557

Subject : Thi rd consu ltation on the implementation of Recommendation concern ing the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage includ ing in dig ita l form (2015)

Dear M in ister,

Under Art icle VIII of UNESCO’s Constitut ion, Member States a re requ ired to subm it , every four years , a report on the measures they have taken to implement the conventions and recommendat ions adopted by the Organ izat i on.

In th is context , I i nv ite Member States to subm it the i r report on the Recommendation concerning the preservat i on of, and access to , documentary heritage incl ud i ng i n d igita l form (2015), i n Engl ish or French, no later than 28 February 2027 , by complet i ng the quest i onna i re access ib le online from the new webs ite of the “one-stop-shop” for the mon i tori ng and assessment of the implementation of standard-sett i ng i nstruments at the fo ll owing address:

https : //www.unesco .orq/en/leqal-affa irs/mon itorinq

Member States a re encouraged to organize a ll necessary consu ltat ions with re levant m in istries and institut i ons as wel l as with key stakeho lders , i nclud i ng profess iona l associat ions, civ i l society partners and Nationa l Commissions for UNESCO.

In add it ion, Member States are requested to des ignate a contact person responsib le for i nfo rmation shari ng and cooperat i on with UNESCO regard i ng repo rts on the 2015 Recommendat ion. Member States shou ld inform the Secretariat of thi s des ignation by 31 August 2026, at the latest via the fo l lowing e-ma i l add ress : 2015recommendat ion-ci@unesco .org .

P ract i ca l informat ion on submitt i ng the report is provided in the attached Gu ide l ines for the Preparat ion of Reports by Member States on the Implementation of the 2015 Recommendat ion.

The Secretariat wi l l submit to the 227th sess ion of the Execut ive Board, in the autumn 2027 , the third conso l idated report on the implementat ion by Member States of the 2015 Recommendati on for its cons ideration . Th is report , together with the comments of the Committee on Convent i ons and Recommendati ons , wi ll subsequent ly be submitted to the Genera l Conference , at its 44th sess ion i n 2027. In l ine with the dec ision of the Execut ive Board, ind ividua l country reports wi l l be made pub l ic ly ava i lab le on the new webs ite of the “one-stop-shop” .

To Min isters respons ib le for re lat ions with UNESCO

CL/4557 - page 2

The Communicat i on and Informat ion Sector rema ins at your d isposa l for any fu rther i nformat ion you may require.

P lease accept, dear Min ister, the assurances of my h ighest cons ide rat ion.

Yours sincere ly ,

Kha led El-Enany

Director-General

Encl.: Guide l i nes for the Preparat ion of Reports by Member States on the Implementat ion of the 2015 Recommendation

cc : Permanent Delegat ions to UNESCO Nat iona l Commiss ions for UNESCO UNESCO fie ld offices

CL/4557 Annex

ANNEX

GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF REPORTS BY MEMBER STATES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE

2015 RECOMMENDATION ON CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF,

AND ACCESS TO, DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE INCLUDING IN D IG ITAL FORM

Introduction

Member States are i nv ited to complete the report i ng on the i r imp lementat ion of the Recommendat i on concern i ng the Preservation of, and Access to , Documentary Heritage incl ud i ng i n Dig ita l Form (2015) (the “2015 Recommendation”). The report i ng pe ri od is from November 2023 to November 2027.

To complete the report i ng, Member States can consu lt the Implementat ion Gu ide l i nes 1 that have been prepared to ass ist Member States with the pract ica l app l icat ion of the various provis ions of the 2015 Recommendat ion. The proposed quest ionnai re has been estab l is hed based on the top ics set out i n these Implementation Gu ide l i nes .

Pursuant to Art icles 1 5 and 16.1 of the Ru les of Procedure concern i ng recommendations to Member States and internat iona l convent i ons covered by the terms of Article IV, paragraph 4, of the UNESCO Const itut ion, the Director-Genera l of UNESCO inv ited Member States by the Ci rcu lar Lette r 4155 dated 28 Apri l 2016 to submit the 2015 Recommendat ion to the ir competent authorit ies wi th i n a period of one year from the close of the sess ion of the Genera l Conference.

Furthermore , under Artic le VIII of UNESCO’s Const itut ion, Member States are requ i red to subm it a report on the leg is lat ive and adm in ist rat ive prov is i ons and any othe r measures they have taken to implement the convent i ons and recommendat ions adopted by the Organ ization.

Submiss ion and dissemination of reports

P lease des ignate a contact person respons ib le for i nfo rmation shari ng and cooperat i on with UNESCO in re lat ion to reporting on th is Recommendation.

Member States are encouraged to submit the quest ionnaire ( i n English or F rench) i n one of the following ways:

( i ) On l ine (preferred) : the conso l idated questionnai re (one per Member State) can be completed and submitted on l i ne through a l ink to be found at :

L i nk: https : //unes .co/3rd r201 5ci

QR Code:

Recommendation concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage, includ ing in D ig ita l

Form: implementat ion gu idelines

CL/4557 Annex - page 2

Upon rece ipt of the des ignat ion of the nat iona l foca l po i nt , the Commun icat ion and Informat ion Sector wi l l transmit the token, specific to each Member State , a llowing the complet i on and subm iss ion of th is questionna i re di rect ly onl ine.

( i i ) Ema i l : the questionna ire can be completed e lectronica l l y and sent to 2015recommendati on-ci (ô) unesco .o rq. The responses to the questionna i re, if sent by ema i l, should respect the l imit of maximum characters of each question and must be subm itted in e lectron ic form on ly (standard doc , .pdf or .rtf format).

The reports wi l l be made avai lab le on UNESCO’s webs i te in order to faci l i tate the exchange of i nformat i on re l at i ng to the promotion and implementat i on of th is Recommendat ion.

CL/4557 Annex - page 3

QUESTIONNAIRE

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Country :

Organ ization (s) or ent ity (/ ies) respons ib le fo r the preparati on of the report :

Officia lly des ignated contact person/inst itut ion:

Name(s) of des ignated official(s ) cert i fy i ng the report :

B rief descri pt ion of the consu ltat ion process established fo r the preparat i on of the report :

REPORTING ON THE SPECIF IC PROVIS IONS OF THE 2015 RECOMMENDATION:

General support :

1. Has the 2015 Recommendat ion been promu lgated to appropriate min ist ries and institut ions? (Sect ion 1)

2. Has your country estab l ished any systematic monitori ng mechan ism to fo l low and ensure implementat ion of the 2015 Recommendation? (Section 1)

3. Has the 2015 Recommendat ion been trans lated into the nat ional language (s) ( if app l icab le)?

4 . Has your country created a support ive , pa rt i cipatory , enab l i ng and stab le environment for a l l pa rt ies? (1.1, 1.2 , 3 .1, 4 .5 , 5 .1, 5 .2)

5 . How , if at a l l, has your country app l ied i nternat i ona l standards and curatori a l best pract ice (2 .4 , 2.7, 2.8 , 2 .9 , 4.2 , 5 .1, 5 .2, 5 .5)?

6. What consu l tat ion mechan isms does the government ma intain with stakeho lders i n the documenta ry heritage secto r (nat iona l and private memory inst itut ions, profess iona l associat i ons, re levant NGOs)? (1.2)

7. What act ions has your country taken in o rder to support memory i nst itut ions in estab l i sh i ng po l icies and standards by research and consu ltat ion, gu ided by internationa l ly established norms? (1.1, 1.2 , 2 .2 , 2.3, 3 .2)

8 . What major capacity-bu i lding measures and pol ic ies have taken p lace with i n the secto r? Has such capacity-bu i ld ing i ncl uded knowledge about connecti ng the protect ion of documenta ry heritage to l aw enforcement agencies, and i n what ways? Is research and tra ini ng for documenta ry heritage profess iona ls organ ized i n your country? How often? (2 .4 , 2.7 , 2 .8 , 2.9 , 5.1, 5 .2)

9. What most s ignifi cant i ns ight and/or adv ice wou ld you li ke to share with other Member States on the bas is of your experiences in implementing the 2015 Recommendation over the past fou r years?

Leg is lation and mandates:

10. What leg i s l at i on does your country have in p lace to :

• protect you r documenta ry he ritage , incl ud i ng as pa rt of cultu ra l heritage-re lated leg i s lat i on? (3.1, 3 .5 , 3.6 , 4 .1)

CL/4557 Annex - page 4

• define the authority , mandate, independence and governance structu re of your nat iona l memory i nst itut ions? (3 .1, 4 .5)

• guarantee the abi l ity of memory i nstitut ions to take unhindered preservation action on documents i n the i r co l lect ions? (3 .5 to 3.7)

• promote and faci l i tate maximum inclus ive access by empoweri ng memory inst i tut ions? (3.2)

• support memory inst itut ions prov id i ng access to materi a l whose copyright status cannot be cla rified? (3 .5 to 3 .7)

• ensure statutory deposit of documents in memory institut ions? (4 .6)

1 1 . Has government net fund i ng of nationa l memory institut i ons (i n recent years) i ncreased or decreased? By how much? (4.1)

12. What long term investment i n analogue and d igita l documentary preservation has been made , i ncl ud ing in the deployment of a rt ificia l inte l l igence (Al ) i n th is regard? (4.1)

1 3. What encouragement has been g iven i n the deve lopment of open-source software and access to proprietary codes by memory i nsti tut ions? (4 .7, 4 .8)

Identification and preservation status of documentary heritage :

14 . Do al l nat i ona l memory inst itut i ons have publ ished col lect ion deve lopment, preservat i on and access poli c ies? Are there in you r country establ ished po l icies , mechan i sms and criteria for se lect i ng, acqu iri ng and de-se lect ing documentary heritage? What po l icies have been developed recently? (1.1)

15 . What documentary heritage has been identified as at potentia l o r imminent risk (if any)? What action has been taken? Was it brought to the attent i on of competent bod ies ( incl ud i ng law enforcement)? (1.3, 2.7 , 5.5)

16. What arrangements and procedures are in p lace to protect the documentary heritage from danger? For example : Th is may include foresee i ng the eventua l i ty of moving origi na l documentary heritage or d igita l copies to safe havens with i n or outs ide your country . (5 .4)

17. What pract ica l support has been given to private , loca l and ind iv idua l co l lect i ons of documenta ry heritage? Are they vis ible in nat ional d i rectories? (1.3, 4.3)

Capac ity-bu i ld ing:

18. What spec ific steps have been taken to encourage cons istency of best pract ice, coord ination and sharing of tasks among memory i nst itut ions? (2.1, 2.7)

1 9. What traini ng schemes have been deve loped? (1 .5)

20 . What is the leve l of invo lvement of nat i ona l memory i nst itut i ons i n i nte rnat i ona l profess iona l associat ions and networks? For example : Th is may i nclude Internat iona l Counci l on Arch ives ( ICA) , Safe Havens fo r Archives at R isk , Internationa l Federation of Library Associat ions and Inst itut i ons ( IFLA), etc . (2.8, 2.9)

21. Are there partne rsh ips , i ncl ud i ng public-private ones and trade , estab l ished a l lowing sharing of costs , faci l i t ies and services? (2.2 , 3 .4 , 4.2)

CL/4557 Annex - page 5

Memory of the World Programme:

22 . I s the re i n your country a nat iona l Memory of the World committee? I f not , what p lans ex ist to estab l ish one? (4.10 , 5.6)

23. What recent nom inat ions have been made to Memory of the World registe rs ( i nternat iona l, regional, nat iona l ) ? (1.4)

24. Are there any Memory of the World outreach and vis ib i l i ty act iv it ies organ ized i n you r country enhanci ng access ib i l i ty of documentary heri tage? P lease g ive examples . (3 .7)