UNESCO

to foster the use of the History by young
people as a unique instrument to represent
the continent’s past from an African
perspective. Participants at the launch
ceremony included the Assistant Director-
General for Culture of UNESCO, Alfredo Pérez
De Armiñán, Equatorial Guinea’s Ambassador
and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, and
Representative of the Africa Group, Mariano
Ebang Ebang Anguesomo, and Ray Lema,
musician and spokesperson for the Coalition
of Artists for the General History of Africa.
New inscriptions on the Memory of
the World International Register
The UNESCO Memory of the World
Programme aims at facilitating the
preservation of documentary heritage
while increasing worldwide awareness
of its existence. In October, following a
three-day meeting in Abu Dhabi (United
Arab Emirates), its International Advisory
Committee inscribed 47 new nominations
on the Memory of the World International
Register. The Committee examined and
approved new items of documentary
heritage proposed by 40 countries, as well
as by the Association for Recorded Sound
Collections, at its 12th meeting. The Memory
of the World Register now includes a total of
348 documents and document collections,
from all continents, and safeguarded on
various materials including stone, celluloid,
parchment and sound recordings.
The Golden Letter of the Burmese King Alaungphaya
to King George II of Great Britain (1756) is a unique
testimony of outstanding aesthetic value. It is a trade
proposal from the King to grant the English a base in a
favourable situation, in exchange for military support
against his enemies. Engraved on pure gold and
decorated with 24 rubies, this is the sole surviving golden
letter from Burma. It was inscribed on the UNESCO
International Memory of the World Register in 2015.
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