Annual meeting of the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Memory of the World Programme (MoWLAC)

 

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The annual meeting of the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Memory of the World Programme (MoWLAC) was held in Sint Maarten on 25-28 November 2024. More than 40 documentary heritage experts from 18 countries in the region (Aruba, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay) participated in the conference funded by the Japanese Funds-in-Trust, the UNESCO Regional Office in Montevideo, and the Government of St. Maarten. 

The first three days of the regional conference were closed meetings where the members of the Regional Committee analyzed 35 eligible applications from 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries.  Twenty-seven (27) new inscriptions were approved and added to the MoWLAC Registry. 

To date, St. Maarten has two inscriptions in the Memory of the World Programme International and Regional Register.

1. In the government archives at the Department of Records (DIV), there are documents on the escape of the 26 enslaved persons from Diamond Estate Plantation.
2. In the Civil Registry, the Slave Registers books.

The delegates also visited some of St. Maarten’s memory institutions, such as the Department of Records (Archives), the National Heritage Foundation & Museum, and the Land Registry (Archives).

For the conference opening, The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of Sint Maarten, Hon. Melissa Gumbs, highlighted “the role that documentary heritage plays in preserving the soul of our cultures. These invaluable records of our past -composed of signs, codes, sounds, and images- must remain safeguarded against threats, whether they arise from natural disasters, environmental degradation or societal changes”. 

During the conference, the chair of the MoWLAC Regional Committee and other delegates used the opportunity to pay tribute to the work of the great documentary heritage expert from Sint Maarten, the late Alfonso Blijden.   

Marcellia Henry, Secretary-General for UNESCO, during her presentation, focused on the importance of strengthening regional and international cooperation among the Memory of the World Regional and National Committees. She also mentioned that Sint Maarten looks forward to submitting items of its documentary heritage, relaunching its National Memory of the World Committee, and training the members in 2025.