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Access to the archives of united nations agencies
Bodil Ulate Segura
1. INTRODUCTION
Archives have existed as long as the assertion of power and the definition of rights have been expressed in written form, whether on clay, papyrus, paper or other medium. We are aware of archives in civilisations as ancient and different as those of Pharaonic Egypt, India, China and Greece.
In the beginning, archives were only of legal and constitutional value and importance, preserved to demonstrate and protect the rights of their owner: the State, the City, the monastery, or a private person. The role of the archivist was to serve the owner of the archives and his needs for secure and prompt access to documentation of his position. Evidential value was important, rather than the possibility of being used as sources for historical research.
This conception of archives meant a restrictive attitude towards other potential users. Researchers received permission for access to archives, but only when they had been officially commissioned to write about historical events, and, in such cases, they were instructed on what to write, how to do so, and to keep the intentions of the commissioner in mind.
Attitudinal changes that gradually opened the archives for researchers occurred during the 18th century. In 1762, Jean Jacques Rousseau's Du contrat social asserted that people have the right to control those who govern them. This led Voltaire to declare that people have the right to criticise and, therefore, the right to knowledge. During the French Revolution, these new ideas were expressed in the first law on archives: the Declaration of Archival Rights of 25 June 1794, which proclaimed that the citizens would have free access to archives belonging to the Nation. This democratic right did not live long in France, or elsewhere, and perhaps its full spirit exists only in Sweden and a few other western democracies.
The conception and role of archives changed further during the course of the 19th century, due largely to the increasingly transitory nature of documents' legality. National archives established in many countries began more and more to preserve documents that were interesting from an historical point of view, rather than of a purely legal or constitutional value, causing historical researchers to use the archives.
However, such access is generally a right reserved to scholars researching the past. Others rarely enjoy the use of archives for the purpose of gathering information on recent or current governmental or administrative procedures or events.
In many countries, rules and regulations restrict the use of archives, but the gradual widening of spheres of interest among scholars and other users, in addition to the emergence of the right to information in the 1960's, has created new demands for accessibility. The issue no longer rests on the scholar's right to archival access for purposes of research, but on new demands emanating from citizens' claims to information as a democratic right. As a consequence, we are on the threshhold of new rules and regulations that will liberate access. Some societies have already complied with these demands, but the great majority have not yet taken this step. Sooner or later this development will have repercussions among the United Nations system of organisations, a primary reason for this study.
Times have also been changing for archivists. Once administrators with a background in legal studies, servicing and promoting historical research, they are becoming a medium that receives, preserves, arranges, describes and communicates information of different kinds. At present, the archives profession is specialised, but multi-faceted, and intimately related to the enormous growth of modern administration and the resultant records that have created a need for early appraisal in order to save expensive space.
In a sense, today's archivist has a double function: to serve both the administration that produced the records and the public seeking information. In the long view, the allegiance of the archivist of our times is neither to the administration nor to the researcher; his responsibilities belong to the archives he holds in his custody for generations to come. He is the ombudsman of the records and archives for the future.
Bearing in mind all the previous considerations and developments and the fact that the United Nations System has had, and continues to have, an influential role in shaping our world, both in the field of international relations and the impact of resources allocated to relief and development, the question of accessibility to the records/archives of the international organisations is of primordial importance. These sources of information are essential to the writing of much contemporary history and in the description of human activities around our planet.
6. GUIDELINES
The gradual liberalisation of access to archives in recent times has had an impact on international organisations. Archives are no longer important purely for historical inquiry, but for social science and other disciplines. Thus, the role and use of archives have been redefined by modern administration and research trends and are responsive to contemporary intellectual. currents and political concerns.
Experience has also shown that accessibility to archives has transnational implications. The international community responded to the challenge of establishing archival repositories in former colonies, or in countries needing archival facilities of a specific nature, through the implementation of reprographic programmes, such as those initiated by UNESCO or the Organisation of American States (OAS).
Without doubt, the time will come when international organisations must also take a step forward in this direction, because of the importance of their archives for research on a national or international level.
Thus, the consequences of harmonisation in the management of records/archives of international organisations, or the lack thereof, will be determinative in the quality of response to the need of the international community, since the archives of these organisations are, as already stated, the documentation centre for many important questions requiring a multi-lateral approach. For this reason, the conclusions and guidelines treat access as an important factor that is greatly affected by the quality of archives administration.
6.1 The Background
According to some scholars, current literature on international organisations is all too often based more on wishful thinking than on facts. Therefore, it is in the organisations' own interest to open their archives so that their work could be analysed and evaluated on the basis of primary sources that reflect the background to the decisions made and the actions taken. Although these sources may record failures and frustrated dreams, they can bring new realism to the study of internationalism. Consequently, the preservation and the liberalisation of access to these archives are fundamental to the reversal of the present situation.
In a broader context, archives administration within international organisations is, in no essential respect, different from that in national governments, in business, or in research institutions. The techniques, principles and problems are the same. Equal attention must be devoted to rescuing valuable records and getting rid of ephemeral ones. There is also a current preoccupation with the control of records in formation. Regardless of the organisation in question, equal attention to records management, appraisal and disposition is essential to effecting solid administration and economy, despite the pressures of personnel and space limitations.
6.2 The State of Affairs
Records/archives lacking standards and procedures for classification and declassification, retention periods, disposal policies and realistic conditions of access mean frustration to archivists as well as to internal and external users. The present survey has revealed a number of inadequacies in regard to the international organisations. Among the sample of the 34 international organisations chosen, only 41.2 per cent answered the questionnaire in a comprehensive manner. What is happening, if anything, in the field of archives administration in the other 58.8 per cent? So much information is missing that it seems almost impossible to get a clear picture of the actual situation.
Recent developments, however, give some cause for optimism. The highest authority in the United Nations System, the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination (ACC), made the decision that "the preservation of the archives of the United Nations and the specialised agencies" should be promoted. Unfortunately, the present serious financial crisis in the UN System has slowed the implementation of that decision, but there is hope for the future. UNICEF has set up an archives programme and engaged an archivist to organise its holdings, and, at the same time, adopted "Procedural guidelines for records and archives" (9 November 1983). And the United Nations Secretariat reinforced the principle of inviolability of records, as expressed in a revised "Administrative instruction: the UN Archives" (28 December 1984).
In general, rules and procedures relating to archives are rather scarce in the international organisations, although these instructions are essential in the maintenance of an operative records/archives management service. In this survey 11 organisations reported that they have such instructions, but only five submitted the texts as requested. Instructions of the IMF, UN Secretariat (also followed by UNECA and UNOG), UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO satisfy the standards of what is considered to be good archives administration. Otherwise, the so-called instructions are simply correspondence and registry manuals for secretaries, if the organisation has even such instructions.
A better understanding of the vital importance of archives as a source for well-functioning administrations and as evidence of the work accomplished by the organisation, and indisputable proof of its role in the world community is to be hoped for.
Therefore, the primary task of ICA's Section of Archivists of International Organisations is to redouble its efforts in its commitment to promote a better understanding among administrators of archival functions and to encourage the implementation of the ACC decision of 1984. Success in this objective would result in a professionalisation of archives services.
The second priority should be the development and creation of a common core of rules and regulations for archives among the agencies of the UN System. If ICA's work in the last several decades has already produced results in harmonising national legislation throughout the world, causing a universal approach to many archival problems, one may well expect the same from a group of organisations having a common objective: "to be centre for harmonising the actions of nations in the attainment" of common ends in peace and security, international relations, and co-operation "in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion". Perhaps the proposal expressed by Dr Ernst Posner in 1961 is still valid: get together the countries interested in solving this situation and "discuss the problem in the responsible committee" of the UN or any other organisation.
6.3 Diversity in Access
Accepting the definition of access as "the availability of records/archives for consultation as a result both of legal authorisation and the existence of finding aids" means detailed responsibilities for archives administration. The manner in which UN agencies are dealing with this question differ in many respects and, for that reason, it is of interest to examine the content of selected rules and procedures.
6.3.1 The United Nations Archives
An Administrative Instruction, ST/AI/326, of 28 December 1984 "explains the guidelines concerning internal and public access to the United Nations archives". Access is given both to archives and non-current records kept by the service. It is clearly stated that staff members of the Secretariat may have access if they need the documents for official business, "except those subject to restrictions imposed by the Secretary-General". Regarding public access to archives and records, it is asserted that:
(a) they are open if they were accessible when created;
(b) they are open if they are more than 20 years and not subject to restrictions; and,
(c) they are open if they are less than 20 years and not subject to restrictions.
Consequently, the United Nations Secretariat follows a time limit of 20 years, but with flexibility in regard to non-restricted material. With respect to restricted records the Secretary-General has imposed two levels of classification:
- ST - Strictly Confidential to records originating with the Secretary-General, the unauthorised disclosure of which could "cause grave damage to confidence in the Secretary-General's Office(s) or to the United Nations".
- SG - Confidential to records originating with the Secretary-General, the unauthorised disclosure of which could "cause damage to the proper functioning of the United Nations Secretariat".
"SG - Confidential" records are automatically declassified when 20 years old, and "SG - Strictly Confidential" are reviewed for declassification at this age. Declassification in either case can be approved prior to the expiration of 20 years.
The United Nations Archives rule of a 20 year time limit is gaining wider acceptance, as in the case of UNESCO and UNICEF, and it could be a starting point in discussions on the subject of access.
6.3.2 UNESCO Archives
The "Rules governing access by outside persons to UNESCO's Archives" reveal that the holdings consist of documents, field mission reports and records. The first two are "freely accessible in the reading room of the Archives Section", although documents can be marked
"restricted and confidential" and access given only "if the prior agreement of the relevant unit of the Secretariat has been obtained". Often, the documents are mimeographed or other multicopied material but not archival documents.
The third category, records, is another case. According to the Chief Archivist, a relaxation in access is currently under consideration, following the UN Secretariat's rule of 20 year time limit. Until any changes are made, the rules in force place it at 30 years, "with the exception of certain types of material where UNESCO may decide on a shorter period". A closed period limit of 50 years is imposed on the following material:
- files containing exceptionally sensitive information on relations between Unesco and its Member States, between Unesco and the United Nations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations;
- files containing papers which, if divulged, might injure the reputation, affect the privacy or endanger the safety of individuals;
- personnel files of officials or agents of Unesco; and,
- confidential files of the offices of the Unesco Director-General; Deputy Director-General and Assistant Directors-General.
It should be stressed that access to archives within the open period can be refused if they are "unmistakably of confidential nature still" and exceptions "to a paper or file that is not yet in the open period may be made by the Chief Archivist" after some provisions are fulfilled. The UNESCO rules thus also have a degree of flexibility.
6.3.3 UNICEF Records and Archives
This organisation has adopted rules and regulations similar to those promulgated by the UN Archives. The "Procedural guidelines for UNICEF records and archives" of 9 November 1983 follow closely the access conditions and 20-year rule adopted by the UN Secretariat. Archives and non-current records follow the same pattern of consultations and restrictions. Except that the latter can be imposed either by the Secretary-General of the UN, the Executive Director of UNICEF or their authorised representatives.
6.3.4 WHO Archives
These archives are defined primarily as "documents and correspondence of various kinds, received or produced by the Organisation .... in the course of carrying out its functions, and which have been preserved in whatsoever form for documentary and historical purposes. External material, whether public or private, relating to the activities of the Organisation may be added to the archives; such material shall also be subject to these rules". That reference appears in "Rules governing access to WHO Archives" of 15 February 1974.
Access is given in situ after a time limit of 40 years but more recent material can also be freely consulted if it does not have any confidential component. In practice a pragmatic 10-year time limit is also employed. The determination of what is confidential is a prerogative of the organisation and is not clarified in the rules. WHO Archives also has material with closed periods of up to 60 years, i.e. "files containing information which, if disclosed, might prejudice the reputation, personal safety or privacy of individuals".
6.3.5 IMF Archives
This organisation applies no time limit for access to its holdings. "General Administrative Order No.26, Rev.l" of 1st November 1969, states: "All Fund documents and other records shall be considered restricted and not for public use except when designed for transmission to the public or specifically authorised for distribution to a particular recipient or group of recipients". The documents may also be classified as confidential or secret:
- "Confidential - records containing information, the unauthorised disclosure of which might be prejudicial to the interest of the Fund or its members. Records, the subject of which required limitations on use for reason of administrative privacy.
- Secret - records containing information, the unauthorised disclosure of which would endanger the effectiveness of a program or policy, or hamper negotiations in progress, or which could be used to private advantage. Use of this classification should be held to an absolute minimum".
6.3.6 Overview
In summary, from the above examples, it appears that access to the records/archives of international organisations is related to the identification of what is in the archives: the interpretation of the right to information:; respect for privacy of individuals; and the protection of the organisation's different spheres of interest. In addition, to open archives to the public means that the organisation must comply with basic requisites, including a good record management system and the provision of user facilities. These goals have not been realised in many international organisations at the present time.
6.4 The Concept of Inviolability
An enormous drain of particularly important holdings has been confirmed by Peter Walne's research on "Archives of International Organisations and Their Former Officials in the custody of national and other archival and manuscript repositories". A more precise and strong definition of the inviolability, or inalienability, of archives within the UN System has been needed for a long time. Walne's findings document a widespread dispersal of UN archives among Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Certainly, much more material created by international organisations and unidentified by Walne's research still remains in national or private institutions.
It is surprising to learn of the volume and nature of the records/archives of former UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskiold, now kept in the Royal Library (Kungliga Biblioteket) in Stockholm. The description of what must be regarded as records/archives belonging to the United Nations comprises 15 printed pages in Walne's study. But he does not mention other repositories in Sweden having records/archives belonging to international organisations such as the Archives of the Labour Movement (Arbetarrorelsens arkiv), which has custody of records/archives of Alva and Gunnar Myrdal from their tenure with the UN Secretariat and the Economic Commission for Europe, or the records kept in the Archives of the National Board of Police (Rikspolisstyrelsens arkiv) concerning recruitment of soldiers as UN observation troops. Some of these records might duplicate originals and have been kept for personal or administrative convenience. However, as the whereabouts of the originals are unknown, they serve as today's records.
The present study has already clarified the impact of this regrettable phenomenon on access, but recognition of this serious problem is only half the battle. The current task for archival services of many international organisations is the method by which to recover these holdings or to at least establish microfilming programs to duplicate their alienated records, in order to complete their holdings.
In the light of this, the definition of inviolability is very important. Some archival instructions treat the subject in a very superficial manner, and their inadequacies show lack of conern on the part of international organisations IMF'S administrative order asserts that the records "are the Fund's property and cannot be removed from its custody or be disposed in any manner or destroyed" without approval.
The United Nations Secretariat has developed an in-depth approach, defining in detail the legal title to the records produced by the organisation and declaring their inviolability in an indisputable manner. "All records, regardless of physical form, created or received by a member of the Secretariat in connection with or as a result of the official work of the United Nations are the property of the United Nations", says the administrative instruction. According to the same document, high ranking officers are contacted by the Archives Section before they leave the Organisation and their records are screened by an archivist in order to decide whether there should be a transfer or not to the Archives. The officer "shall not remove any records from the United Nations premises". However, the instructions acknowledge that separated staff members "are entitled to have a reasonable number of unrestricted documents in their possession copied at their own expense and to retain their private papers". There are also rules for the separation of the "Secretary-General's private papers from his official records".
To the extent possible, a given organisation should bear in mind the Secretariat's regulations in order to avoid the loss of records/archives, which creates so many problems.
6.5 Towards Change
The different criteria adopted by the international organisations regarding accessibility, as reflected by the results of this survey, reinforce the argument that a serious discussion about administrative instructions and procedures on records/archives is needed, especially with those organisations without any such instrument. If no action in accordance with the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination of 1984 is taken in this regard, chaos will characterise the records/archives in formation; organisations will continue to ignore the responsibilities entrusted to them as administrators of a specific field of action in the world community; and they cannot perform their duties in preserving and caring for a very special documentary treasure of mankind. The archives resulting from and documenting their activities are of unique historical and cultural value, and absolutely necessary to an understanding of the changes occurring in our times.
Initially, in the effort to implement an archives program, a drive should be undertaken to inform administrators as to what records/archives management can really mean to them, and to make them understand the beneficial budgetary implications of an archival program which can accrue both to the organisation and researchers and other users. If smaller organisations cannot afford professional archivists and the creation of an archives service, other solutions should be considered, such as hiring a consultant to organise, arrange and describe the archives, to screen them and to establish rules for access. Even better, several smaller organisations should go together and constitute an archival depository as is now discussed for the UN agencies in Geneva.
In general terms, professional and expert advice is needed to establish rules and regulations for the active part of the record life-cycle to assure their transformation into valuable archives. The necessary steps include:
- planning and conducting records surveys to identify all records at every level, whether current, semi-current or non-current;
- creating and implementing classification/declassification schemes, to define which records/archives should be restricted/ confidential/secret, and for how long;
- establishing and applying retention schedules with defined time periods at which records should be transferred to an intermediate repository or to the archive repository. Most records are not needed in the offices for administrative, legal or fiscal use more than 3 to 5 years and should be removed thereafter in order to free high-cost office space and filing equipment;
- establishing and implementing transfer procedures, featuring a file list to be used as a finding aid until the records can be appraised;
- establishing and implementing an appraisal program, to make possible regularized and authorised destruction of records lacking archival value;
- establishing rules for decisions on appraisal and destruction of records. Preferably, only one person should make the decision, in collaboration with the originating office or the concerned senior officer; preparation of finding aids of different types that not only describe the content of the records/archives, but also explain their administrative and functional context; formulating and applying regulations on access to holdings that consider all legal, economic, administrative, cultural and historical implications; and, formulating users instructions explaining how to request permission to consult the archives and, if given access, how to get approval of manuscripts.
These practical measures will not only result in an economic gain in the form of less administrative costs, better flow of the paper work, and flexible administrative procedures, but will also cause a substantive liberalisation of the access to records/archives. Against this background the principal obstacles to archival access may be summarised as: a poor records management system; lack of professional archivists and other staff to handle the processing of records transferred to storage and in need of appraisal and disposal;
- lack of researcher/user facilities, such as reference service, reading rooms and personnel to guide users and bring them material for consultation; and,
- fragile or damaged archival material that cannot be given to researchers and other users without the risk of destruction.
Once these obstacles are overcome, rules governing the availability of records/archives will help the organisation's own staff, Member States, officers of other international organisations and persons outside the organisation in their work. The rules must take into account such reasons for restrictions as the sensitivity of diplomatic affairs involving Member States and organisations, requiring that records be closed for up to 30 years; economic, commercial and industrial negotiations and interests, needing closed periods varying from 10 to 20 years; and the respect of the privacy of individuals, with closure for up to 50 years; and the like.
6.6 Centralisation of the UN System Archives
The idea of a centralised archives for all agencies of the UN System has occasionally been pursued. In 1945, Dr Solon Buck proposed that the UN Secretariat Archives be the centre for all the archives of the international organisations. In 1961, two separate depositories were considered: one in New York, and the other in Geneva.
Prior to the XIIIth International Conference of the Round Table on Archives, held in 1971, a questionnaire was sent to a number of organisations. In part, it dealt with the pros and cons of a possible centralisation "of the archives of defunct international organisations and commissions, and that of the inactive archives of the specialised agencies of the UN". The responses proposed a variety of approaches, ranging from the position that "some centralisation would be desirable" to a total refusal to consider any degree of centralisation. France, for example, answered "that the archives of defunct organisations can find no better place than in national repositories". The report from this meeting stated that "The League of Nations believe it only natural that the historical archives of world organisations should be concentrated in Geneva, while suggesting the creation of a centre in Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg, for purely European bodies; New York would be a good centre for the archives of the specialised agencies of the UN".
Questions, similar to those of today, were posed: who will cover the costs and take the responsibility for the functioning of such centre(s)? Where shall it be located? How does the world's division into two ideological blocks affect such an idea? What status should the centre(s) be accorded in order to inspire confidence by governmental and non-governmental agencies and researchers/users? Should this(these) world-wide repository(ies) be subordinated to the General Assembly of the United Nations, or put under the aegis of UNESCO?
Taking into consideration the need for access to records/archives of the international organisations, it is evident that the question of creating archives centres to which they can transfer their archives, when 50 to 100 years old, must be investigated.
Opinions can differ but one thing is certain - the benefits are many. Such a move would ensure maximum favourable conditions for storage of archives and make possible the elaboration of records management and archives administration especially designed for international organisations. The researchers/users' work would be made easier, too.
The concentration of archives would relieve the small organisations of many problems, bettering the conditions of their archives and facilitating access. Finally, standardisation in the preparation of finding aids and utilisation of automatic techniques to establish both administrative and intellectual control over the archives and their contents would become much easier.