The first round of nominations for items to be included among UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program (MoW) recently ended after four days of meetings at the organization’s headquarters in Paris.

MoW Chairman and Director General of the UAE National Archives, Abdulla Al Raisi, appointed an International Advisory Committee consisting of 14 distinguished experts to guide the process of inclusion into the Registry.  Three additional items were proposed for inclusion into the Registry, while two remain pending under provisional status. 

The nomination from the International Joint Committee on Records of Japanese Military Comfort Women “Voices from Comfort Women” was recommended for postponement pending further review.

IAC recommended UNESCO Chairman Al Alraisi  to have a separate dialogue with IAC members who nominated item 101 “Voices of the Comfort Women,” and item 76 “Documentation on Comfort Women, and Japanese Army Discipline.”  

The IAC also requested for the Chairman to decide a convenient time and place for all nominating parties involved. Any further meetings dedicated to the joint-nomination process will need to encompass all relevant documents.

To view the complete list of nominations click the link below: https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/mow_recommended_nominations_list_2016-2017.pdf