More than seventy (70) officials and specialists from National Archives, Libraries, and Documentary Research Centers in Africa took part in the regional workshop organized online and on-site in Saly, Senegal, from June 15 to 17, 2021, within the framework of the three-year project Preservation of Documentary Heritage through Policy Development and Capacity Building
UNESCO, through its Memory of the World (MoW) program, organized with the support of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Funds-in-Trust a regional workshop to improve the knowledge and techniques of memory institutions in sub-Saharan Africa in the effective and long-term preservation of documentary heritage. The meeting was held online and on-site in Saly, Senegal from June 15-17, 2021. It was attended by directors and representatives of national archives, libraries, Memory of the World national committees and research centers from some twenty countries. Among them, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, DRC and Senegal.
Documentary heritage is a fragile resource exposed to various natural, human and technological risks. Its preservation over time requires the monitoring, identification and continuous assessment of these risks, which can impact its preservation, accessibility and usability. Hence the need to "raise awareness of the importance of taking into account risk reduction strategies in the governance of the preservation of documentary heritage," said Mr. Michel KENMOE, Advisor for Communication and Information of the UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa (Sahel), representing the Director of UNESCO Dakar at the opening ceremony.
In addition to raising awareness, the Saly workshop was also an opportunity to develop expertise in disaster risk management and prevention in memory institutions in Africa, and to strengthen their resilience to risks impacting documentary heritage. Indeed, in the face of the numerous cases of natural disasters or human acts recorded in recent years on the continent - such as in Mali where several ancient manuscripts were destroyed by jihadists in the city of Timbuktu in 2013 and in South Africa where a fire destroyed the archives and library of the University of Cape Town in April 2021 - the head of the Documentary Heritage Unit, Mr. Fackson BANDA, insisted on "the urgent need for memory institutions to develop their own emergency plans.”
The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to share their experiences, but above all, it was a series of presentations and practical exercises on disaster risk reduction and management. Starting from a case study, in her presentation on the National Disaster Management Plan in Japan, Ms. Naoko KOBAYASHI, former Senior Librarian of the National Diet Library, gave indications that could help respond to different scenarios (fires, floods, earthquakes, environmental degradation, etc.) based on plans adapted to local realities.
Practical sessions led by Dr. Emilie LEUMAS, Consultant in Archives and Records Management, helped participants strengthen their techniques for preserving archival data and documents in a disaster situation. By simulating a flood, the expert conducted a wet paper and photography exercise that aimed to demonstrate the practical and accessible tools that can be used to recover records damaged by a disaster of this nature and preserve essential information.
To guide them in the development of emergency plans, participants were asked to learn about their work environment through exercises in planning, risk and priority assessment, and the use of rescue toolkits and supplies. Organized in working groups, they were then given time to develop the outline of their draft disaster management master plan.
At the end of the different sessions, drawing lessons from the shared experiences, the participants made a series of recommendations for better support at the national level, of the memory institutions. Among others: the financing of investment projects for the construction of sustainable buildings according to conservation standards; the integration of risk and disaster management for documentary heritage in national disaster management plans. These recommendations will be the subject of advocacy that aims to "ensure that our structures are safe and preserved sustainably. For we cannot govern a country without archives, without memory", said Mr. Papa Momar DIOP, President of the African Regional Committee Memory of the World (ARCMoW).
Using the techniques and lessons learned during this workshop, we must take urgent and coherent action to ensure the preservation of documentary heritage in cooperation with local decision-makers and African institutions
A call to which the memory institutions represented at the workshop responded by committing to improve prevention and risk reduction practices. According to Mrs. Esther OLEMBE, National Director of the Cameroon Archives, "the stakes are high insofar as archives are part of the sovereignty and security of our countries".
It is therefore necessary to find a viable economic model to apply to the task, knowing that preventive measures significantly reduce the costs of disasters
The meeting ended on June 17, 2021 with a ceremony to award certificates to participants, led by Mr. Papa Momar Diop and Ms. Fatoumata CISSE DIARRA.
