Brazil's National Committee is reactivated aiming at preserving the country's cultural heritage

Preserving a people's history requires reconnecting with the past while establishing a course for the future in the present. It is also through this memory that the successes of a community are appreciated, as well as the need of such information to avoid criminal silence and forgetting. These were some of the points mentioned during the ceremony at the Itamaraty Palace to sign the joint ordinance between the ministries of Culture, Foreign Affairs and Management and Innovation in Public Services, which establishes the National Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program (MoW).

The reactivation of the National Committee of the Memory of the World Programme is part of the larger framework of Brazil's environmental cultural strategy, which acknowledges culture as an engine for growth, environmental protection and tourism promotion”

Mauro Vieira 
Minister of Foreign Affairs

“The reactivation of the National Committee of the Memory of the World Programme is part of the larger framework of Brazil's environmental cultural strategy, which acknowledges culture as an engine for growth, environmental protection and tourism promotion,” stated the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira.

This message was reinforced by the Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services, Esther Dweck. “Today, we see the State, through this ordinance, recognizing the transformative power of historical memory preservation in consolidating the values we seek for the future. The right to remember must be accessible to everyone, because it is through it that we as a society can comprehend and learn from our history,” emphasized the minister.

According to the Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes, the reactivation of the National Committee is an important step towards preserving Brazil's cultural heritage. “It is an example of the commitment of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government to value and promote memory and our documentary heritage, which are fundamental to building a truly democratic and fair country for all people,” she declared.

An example of the commitment of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government to value and promote memory and our documentary heritage, which are fundamental for building a truly democratic and fair country for all people”

Margareth Menezes 
Minister of Culture

GOALS – One of the primary goals of the Memory of the World Program is to ensure that documents and materials of global significance are preserved using acceptable approaches. As a result, to assure and facilitate access to these collections for all, promote their diffusion, and advance knowledge.

In this framework, Brazil will contribute with documents and archives that narrate a rich, diverse, and multiple history, ensuring the value of the country's creative creation.

Other duties from the National Committee include: ensuring the preservation of and access to documentary and bibliographic heritage of worldwide importance; supervising national projects and activities that fall within the scope of the Program; and supporting the competent bodies in formulating national policies to define, record, safeguard and provide access to Brazil's documentary heritage, among others.

The goals also include discovering, analyzing, and choosing documents and collections of global significance for submission to the Memory of the World Program's registers at three levels: national, regional (in Latin America and the Caribbean), and global. To give you some perspective, Brazil currently has 44 entries in the Regional Register and 11 on the International Register.

HOW IT WORKS – The Committee will be made up of 19 representatives from the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches, as well as state and municipal governments and civil society. The Committee's Executive Secretariat will be the National Archives of the Ministry of Management and Innovation.

In January 2025, a call for proposals will be launched for the selection of representatives of Teaching and Research Associations, State Public Archives and Municipal Public Archives for the National Committee and for the composition of the Advisory Commission. The call for new collections to be recognized by the MoWBR is also expected next year.

HISTORY – The UNESCO Memory of the World Program (MoW) was created in 1992 with the aim of ensuring the preservation of documents of global significance, helping universal access to these documents and raising awareness of their existence and importance. Currently, more than 70 countries participate in the program, collaborating in the preservation and dissemination of this collection.

The Brazilian National Committee of the MoW was created in 2004 and has played a key role in identifying, preserving and promoting documents of exceptional value to humanity.

Between 2007 and 2018, 111 collections received the National Register of Brazil from UNESCO's Memory of the World Program (MoW), including those signed by great names of the Brazilian intelligentsia and records of popular struggles that shaped the country's history.