In 2015, the UNESCO General Conference, following the adoption of 38 C/Resolution 57, proclaimed 28 September as International Day for Universal Access to Information. In October 2019, recognising the importance of access to information, it was recognised at the United Nations level at the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations.
Access to Information as a right and as a public policy is closely linked to the ideas of democracy and democratic governance. Moreover, this right is an instrumental right, as it enables the exercise of other rights.
Archives guarantee the effective fulfilment of this right, as well as citizen control over public actions, allowing for accountability and ensuring their participation in decision-making, promoting efficient, responsible and transparent public management.
The right of access to information is intimately linked to the right to know, the right to truth and the right to reparation for atrocious human rights violations. Everyone, including the relatives of victims, has the right to know the truth. When it comes to serious violations of human rights, the information found in the archives has an extremely important value in promoting judicial investigations and in preventing the same events from happening again.
They contribute to the recovery of the collective memory; they provide information for recent history and allow for the sensitisation and education of new generations.
For Iberarchivos, the preservation, protection and public consultation of archives containing documents that bear witness to human rights violations has been a main line of action since its beginnings. Therefore, on the International Day for Universal Access to Information, the cooperation programme presents a virtual exhibition called: “Iberarchivos. Defending Human Rights through cooperation” on the International Day for Universal Access to Information.
Since the beginning of the Programme, the protection of human rights archives and facilitating access to them has been one of its priorities and 57 projects from 38 institutions and 11 countries have been supported, with funding from the programme amounting to 338,385.95 euros.
This virtual exhibition of human rights projects demonstrates Iberarchivos’ commitment to the protection of these archives, the ultimate aim of which is to ensure that this documentary heritage is adequately protected against intentional destruction or concealment and that it is made accessible not only to the victims, but also to society as a whole.
This exhibition includes some of the most outstanding projects related to the defence of human rights that have been developed thanks to the archival cooperation of the Ibero-American community.
We invite you to learn more about these projects and the impact they have had in their respective countries.