The United Nations (UN)’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (WDAH) is annually observed across the globe on October 27 to recognise those professionals and organisations who work in audiovisual preservation and contribute to preserving the heritage for future generations.
- The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA).
The theme of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2022 is “Enlisting documentary heritage to promote inclusive, just and peaceful societies”.
World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2022 is celebrated in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Memory of the World(MoW) Program. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrates the 30th anniversary of MoW from 27th October to 5th November 2022.
Background:
i.In October 2005, UNESCO adopted the resolution (33 C/Resolution 53) during the 33rd session of UNESCO’s General Conference and proclaimed the 27th October of every year as World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (WDAH).
ii.2005 UNESCO General Assembly approved the WDAH to mark the 25th anniversary of UNESCO’s “Recommendation for the Safeguarding and Preservation of Moving Images” adopted by the 21st General Conference on 27th October 1980.
- The first-ever World Day for Audiovisual Heritage was observed on 27th October 2006.
The Memory of the World (MoW) Programme:
i. The Memory of the World Programme was established by UNESCO in 1992 and is inspired by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- It was established to prevent and promote global documentary heritage, and to enable permanent public access to the documents.
ii. UNESCO embraces the theme: “Your Window to the World: Enlisting documentary heritage to promote inclusive, just and peaceful societies” to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Memory of the World Programme.
Audiovisual Heritage:
i. The main sources of information from the 20th and 21st centuries can be found in audiovisual media including movies, radio and television programmes, and audio & video recordings.
ii. Tens of thousands of audio-visual objects, including images, maps, posters, recordings, videos, and more, can be found in the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) collections.
Digitizing our shared UNESCO history:
i. In 2015, the ‘Digitizing our shared UNESCO history’ project was launched by UNESCO to safeguard and promote UNESCO’s documentary heritage.
ii. An on-site lab was set up in February 2018 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, in collaboration with the digitization business Picturae BV.
About the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA):
Chair- Mary Egan
Members- 9
Establishment- 1981
About the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
Director-General- Audrey Azoulay
Headquarters- Paris, France
Members- 193 Members & 11 Associate Members
