As part of the Iberarchivos archival cooperation programme, we are pleased to announce that the document Memoria del Seminario “El papel de los archivos: acceso a la información, transperencia y memoria” (Report of the Seminar “The role of archives: access to information, transperencia and memory”) has been made available. It is a text that reflects the work and commitment of the entire Ibero-American community in the field of archives.
The Memory of the Ibero-American Year of Archives 2019 is the result of the process of activities derived from the celebration of the Ibero-American Year of Archives 2019, declared at the XXVI Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, held on 15 and 16 November 2018 in the city of La Antigua, Guatemala. The activities were carried out thanks to the collaboration of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Ibero-American Archives Association (ALA), the Sub-Directorate General of State Archives of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport and the Iberarchives Programme, as well as the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
This report shows that Ibero-American countries are gradually advancing in the implementation of administrative and legislative management measures for the fulfilment of the right of access to public information, data protection and administrative transparency, as well as in the observance of protocols for the conservation and dissemination of their documentary collections, contributing in a reliable way to the recovery of the collective memory and the preservation of the Ibero-American documentary heritage.
Silvestre Lacerda, President of the Intergovernmental Council of the Iberarchives Programme, comments: Archives are an essential factor for the Memory and Transparency of States and the two strongest indicators of the strengthening of democracy in Ibero-America.
For his part, Enrique Vargas, Coordinator of the Ibero-American Cultural Space of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), emphasises: With the celebration of the Ibero-American Year of Archives for Transparency and Memory, the call is made from cooperation and institutions linked to the archival community to generate greater articulation, visibility of their actions and their professionalisation.
As a result of the previous day of reflection in which the directors of the National Archives of Ibero-America and some experts in archives participated, the Madrid Declaration was published, which includes the demands of public and private archives, requesting recognition of their fundamental role in the active formulation of public policies for transparency and memory. The role and function of archives are fundamental and decisive in politics and democracy in society.