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| UNESCO
Oral Archives Initiative |
The
purpose of the Oral Archives Initiative is to collect personal
accounts on UNESCO's history from persons who have been closely
associated with UNESCO activities, either as staff members or
in cooperation with the Organization (for example as members
of governing bodies, NGOs, National Commissions or in their
capacity of national counterparts). A special effort will be
made to carry out interviews with persons who have field experience
and persons who live outside France.
The conviction that such an initiative is both timely and necessary
is the driving force behind this initiative. Timely because
it is urgent to interview those UNESCO players who took part
in the aspirations and work of the early, pioneer years of the
Organization. Necessary for the sake of UNESCO's collective
memory (particularly important for new staff members and for
the building of a common institutional identity) and for the
benefit of historians and other scholars.
"Individuals make a difference", state the authors of "UN Voices",
an oral history published in 2005 by the United Nations Intellectual
History Project (UNIHP). By interviewing witnesses and players,
the patchwork that constitutes the history of UNESCO will become
more complete, more alive. Individuals made UNESCO what it is
today, they "made it happen", obviously in a certain social,
political, economic and cultural context, but still leaving
marks on the what, how and why things happened. Oral archives
can complement written sources by adding insights, information,
nuances, colours, ideas and research trails. These interviews
can help us better understanding the past.
The Oral Archives Initiative was launched in 2006.
Message from the Director-General
Project document
For more information :j.boel@unesco.org
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