NEW DELHI: UNESCO director general Irina Bokova and French National Audiovisual Institute CEO Laurent Vallet have signed an agreement to preserve 70 hours of audiovisual (AV) programming from UNESCO’s valuable collections and make them available to the public.

Cooperation between UNESCO and INA, which is France’s repository of radio and television archives began 10 years ago on the occasion of the organisation’s 60th anniversary.

To mark the 70th anniversary, INA and UNESCO decided to reinforce this partnership, undertaking both to preserve and make accessible to the general public a selection of 70 hours of audiovisual programming that includes film, video and audio material.

UNESCO is in possession of exceptional audiovisual archives containing thousands of items, which bear testimony to 70 years of the world’s cultural history and to the organisation’s activities. As is the case with audiovisual heritage anywhere, these collections are vulnerable, perishable and at risk of being forgotten unless they are digitised and shared with the greatest number.

INA is presently mobilising the range of its technical capacities to secure the preservation and enhancement of UNESCO’s audiovisual archives: digitisation of material, its organisation and the development of a multiple-use offer for different audiences.

UNESCO’s material will be accessible to the public on INA’s websites and to professionals on inamediapro.com. It will also be made available to researchers, teachers and students at INA THEQUE centres and partner multimedia libraries across France. INA will also make this audio and video material available for cultural and educational purposes.

“The agreement marks a new decisive step in raising awareness of the need to implement a safeguarding and digitisation plan for UNESCO’s audiovisual archives. Similarly, in order to safeguard audiovisual heritage, INA invites Member States to reinforce national policies and support safeguarding and enhancement measures for all of UNESCO’s collections,” declared Vallet.

“This partnership reinforces the strong relationship that already exists between UNESCO and INA. It will help enhance the value of a shared memory, which also sheds light on the recent history of humanity. This is a very concrete way to preserve fragile documents and contribute to the dissemination and sharing of know-how at the service of peace,” said Bokova.