31 July 2009
Jerusalem
Girl and baby fleeing in 1967 |
UNRWA’s archive of about half a million still and moving images has been named by UNESCO as a “Memory of the World” archive of outstanding value. The announcement was made by UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, during a 3-day meeting of the International Advisory Committee of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme which continues until 31 July in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Elderly couple, 1948 |
In it’s announcement, UNESCO paid tribute to the Agency’s archive: “Since the inception of the agency 60 years ago, UNRWA’s Public Information Office has produced photographs and films covering all the stages of the history of the Palestinian refugees, from the establishment of functional camps in the 1950s, the second flight during the 1967 war, the civil war in Lebanon, the turbulent periods in the second half of the 80s to the consecutive unrest starting in the year of 2000. UNRWA has produced and collected a comprehensive record of still photographs and films, covering most aspects of the lives and history of the Palestine refugees.”
Family picnicking on a beach in Gaza |
UNRWA Commissioner General, Karen AbuZayd said, “We are so grateful to UNESCO for this recognition. But the real honour goes to the photographers and their subjects, past and present. They are the ones who have made this such a rich resource, laying out a fascinating and complex narrative in a manner which is both beautiful and thought-provoking”.
UNRWA is working with UNESCO, the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to UNESCO and the French National Audio-Visual Institute (INA) to protect and digitize the entire archive. This is part of a range of projects initiated by the Agency as part of “UNRWA at 60” initiative, marking the Agency’s sixtieth anniversary. However, all partners believe the digitized archive will be of great value beyond the “UNRWA at 60” anniversary year as a living archive.
Refugee family in Rafah |
UNRWA has become part of contemporary Palestinian history. Some would say it is part of Palestinian identity itself. “Whatever the case”, says AbuZayd, “we are hoping to make our archives accessible to all by digitalizing them. Unfortunately, we haven’t raised sufficient funds yet, but we hope that with this support from UNESCO, there will be more interest in backing the project. The product will be of great value to historians, academics, writers, journalists and anyone interested in the history of Palestine”.
The Memory of the World project has named 193 archives since its inception in 1992. In its mission statement, UNESCO says, “Documentary heritage reflects the diversity of languages, peoples and cultures. It is the mirror of the world and its memory. But this memory is fragile. Every day, irreplaceable parts of this memory disappear for ever. UNESCO has launched the Memory of the World Programme to guard against collective amnesia calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world ensuring their wide dissemination”.
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