Ms M Gilder, Mr M Makhubele and Mr G Wagener attended the 4th International Conference of the Memory of the World (MoW) Programme of UNESCO, in Warsaw, Poland, 18-21 May 2011. Ms Gilder and Mr Wagener also attended the 10th Meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme in Manchester, United Kingdom, 22-26 May 2011.
 
The conference in Poland took the form of plenary sessions in a conference hall followed by breakaway sessions where delegates could choose which one of three sessions to attend. As three officials from DAC were present, it was decided that wherever possible there should be representation in all three sessions. The theme of the conference in Poland was “Culture - Memory – Identities”.
 
Ms Gilder’s was a member of the International Advisory Committee of the UNESCO MoW programme; She also chairs both the South African National Committee and the African Regional Committee of Memory of the World programme and as such she was invited to do a presentation titled Memory of the World Programme (M.o.W), An African Perspective in one of the breakaway sessions. This presentation was well attended and many questions were asked and answered.
 
Mr Makhubele presented a paper at a workshop. The title of the session was an Addendum to the UNESCO guidelines for the Preservation of digital heritage. The session looked at how the UNESCO charter on digital heritage could be popularized and improved.
 
Mr Wagener attended a workshop Memory of the World Programme Registers: What is their significance? What possibilities do they offer? How to prepare Nominations? where practical steps were discussed on how to identify collections for inclusion and also how to prepare a nomination correctly so that it fulfil all the requirements in order to be assessed. The aim of attending this workshop was to pick up skills so that South Africa can prepare their nominations in the correct way. It is intended that the South African MoW committee will arrange a national workshop at a later stage where information gained in this workshop will be shared with South African delegates.
 
Other sessions dealt with the formal status of the Memory of the World Programme; the role of institutions such as archives, libraries and museums and their social impact; the reconstitution of destroyed and scattered heritage, the concept of memory for the future and the World Digital Library and updating the UNESCO Guidelines for the Preservation of Digital Heritage.
 
At the end of the conference a draft of the Warsaw Declaration was tabled.