Ziniar©: The Burkinabe National Memory of the World Committee (CNB/MdM) organized a workshop in Ziniar© from May 26 to 28, 2025, aimed at addressing the shortcomings related to the registration of works on the international Memory of the World register. The members of the executive board of the Burkinabe National Memory of the World Committee want to give themselves a better chance of registering the works on the Memory of the World register.

According to Burkina Information Agency, the meeting in Ziniar©, located in the Central Plateau, provided participants with information on the procedures for collecting, processing, and registering assets in the Memory of the World register, with the aim of better developing the national register. "They were provided with clear and approved skills in the identification, collection and evaluation of documentary heritage, and on the other hand, with skills in the preservation and presentation of elements for inclusion in the international, regional and national register of the Memory of the World," explained the Committee's president, Todroudoua Malo.

He indicated that the meeting is taking place as the Committee prepares to submit a property for inclusion in the African Regional Memory of the World Register next month. "We want to give ourselves every chance of success. The registration of properties is subject to rules and criteria. If we don't master them, it will be difficult to propose applications that meet the standards for inclusion in the international register," Mr. Malo insisted.

The workshop, which also marks the effective start of activities of the Project to strengthen the capacities of national stakeholders on the preservation of documentary heritage and the promotion of memory of the world institutions in Burkina Faso, was financed by the UNESCO 2024-2025 participation programme.

For the Secretary-General of the Burkinabe National Commission for UNESCO, Dr. Vincent Sedogo, the development of the Memory of the World program is an effective response to raise awareness of documentary heritage. According to him, this session is a boon to overcome the difficulties inherent in the lack of capacity-building frameworks for the Memory of the World program.

This is why he urged the ten participants to take ownership of the various tools developed for the preservation and safeguarding of documentary heritage, the techniques and methods for developing the register. The SG called for a harmonization of practices and knowledge in the collection, processing, and constitution of data, capable of constituting a national Memory of the World register.