The regional conference 'Memory in Heritage: Enhancing Cooperation on Documentary Heritage in the Arab Region" kicked off in Doha on Wednesday. Organised by the Qatar National Archives in co-operation with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), the two-day conference is being held at the Sheraton Hotel in the presence of HE Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Qatar National Archives, and HE Ibrahim bin Ali al-Mohannadi, Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs. The conference was also attended by other dignitaries and a group of senior figures from the GCC and regional countries.

In the opening speech, Dr Ahmed Abdullah al-Buainain, Secretary-General of the Qatar National Archives, said: “Documentary heritage is not just documents preserved in archives, but rather a living record of our identity and history. Our responsibility today is not only to preserve it, but to transform it into a cognitive tool that contributes to facing the challenges of the era, while ensuring its sustainability for future generations.”

Al-Buainain added: “We at the Qatar National Archives are committed to using the latest digital technologies, such as AI and digitisation, to improve archiving processes and protect documents from damage. We also seek to be a leading centre in the digital transformation of national and Arab archives, in co-operation with our regional and international partners.”

Salah Khaled, Unesco Representative for the Gulf States and Yemen and Director of the Unesco Office in Doha, praised the role of the Qatar National Archives and its team in organising the event. Stressing that the Arab region is rich in a unique documentary heritage that bears witness to the human civilisations that emerged and developed in this region.

He reviewed prominent historical examples of the richness of Arab heritage, such as the Ashur Library in Iraq, and the historical universities in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, in addition to great archaeological documentary discoveries such as the Sana’a manuscripts and the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Khaled stressed that protecting the Arab documentary heritage is a fundamental task not only for documenting the past, but also for building bridges of communication between generations and promoting global cultural dialogue. However, he drew attention to the weak representation of the Arab documentary heritage in the Memory of the World Register, where it constitutes only 5% of the total register, which calls for urgent action to enhance cooperative efforts and increase attention to the importance of this heritage.

Ali al-Maarefi, Secretary-General of the National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, stressed that the conference constitutes an important platform for unifying efforts and enhancing regional co-operation to preserve documentary heritage, which is an integral part of the cultural and historical identity of the Arab peoples. He explained that this event reflects Qatar’s commitment to supporting cultural and educational efforts, regionally and internationally, in a way that contributes to strengthening ties between the peoples of the region.

The first day of the conference witnessed intensive dialogue sessions that addressed pivotal issues in protecting documentary heritage. The first session, titled 'The State of Documentary Heritage in the Arab Region', was attended by Faxon Banda, Head of the Documentary Heritage Unit at Unesco, who gave a presentation on the challenges facing Arab documentary heritage, such as the weak Arab representation in the international register of the Memory of the World Programme. Banda stressed the need to enhance regional co-operation to document heritage and highlight it at the global level.

The second session addressed 'The Risks of Climate Change on Documentary Heritage'. The speakers discussed the impact of climate change and natural disasters on historical documents, and called for the adoption of regional strategies to improve preservation conditions and enhance digitisation.

The third session focused on 'Protecting Documentary Heritage in Conflict Zones'. Speakers from Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and Iraq participated in the session, where they presented their experiences in documenting and protecting historical documents during conflicts.

The first day concluded with a session on 'The Importance of Digitization in Protecting Documentary Heritage'. The speakers also discussed the challenges of digitisation, such as the lack of resources and technical expertise.

On the sidelines of the conference Heidi Mirza, Unesco Cairo Office, said in a statement to 'Gulf Times': “Unesco aims to develop national committees, in every country, that has a field office. These national committees are responsible for prioritising, identifying the documentary heritage that are in dire situation, so that they can be prioritised for digitisation, preservation, and to keep them safe in proper storage conditions. The aim of this conference is to bring all these national committees from the Arab region, and Unesco partners to be able to prioritise and understand which documentary heritage is in most need to be submitted to Unesco and be registered as part of the memory of the world.”

The conference was accompanied by an exhibition that reflected the beauty and richness of the Arab documentary heritage. It included a collection of manuscripts, photos and documents that shed light on the history of the region.

The second day of the conference will focus on establishing a regional committee for the Memory of the World Programme with the aim of enhancing Arab representation in the Memory of the World Register.
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