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In 2019, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) celebrated 70 years of consultation, consensus and conflict prevention. The same year also marked 20 years since NATO first opened access to its archives to the public. The establishment of the NATO Archives in 1999 was hailed by then Secretary General Javier Solana as an important signal of the Alliance’s commitment to transparency and openness. NATO declassified and publicly disclosed thousands of documents and opened a dedicated...

This article describes the process of creation and discussion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Records and Archives Management Policy, the first such policy ever issued by the Secretariat, after 25 years of existence. It outlines, firstly, the methodology followed to assemble and articulate the Policy, and its alignment with the standards and best practice followed by other international organizations; secondly, how the Policy was presented to different stakeholders and approved; and...

Seventy-five years ago (1945), the United Nations (UN) was founded in San Francisco by 50 nations. There, a small archives unit served to assemble the first records of the organization; this was the first iteration of today’s Archives and Records Management Section (ARMS). Throughout its history, the fortunes of the UN Archives have waxed and waned, while its role has continuously evolved. Trying to carve out a place for itself within the largest international organization in the world, its...

Records and archives containing information relating to grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law represent a fundamental source for, and can become trustworthy documentary evidence within, Dealing with the Past (DWP) processes including truth commissions, criminal tribunals, reparation programs, vetting processes and outreach projects. Those intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) working in the fields of...

While the Council of Europe as an Intergovernmental Organization has proven remarkably resilient, its archives and records appear to be increasingly fragile. This article documents and analyses the development of records management and archives management within the Council of Europe between 2000 and 2003. This was a period that saw major changes in the way that records were treated in the organization, notably the preparation and implementation of an organization-wide archives policy, and...

Following the institutionalization of the Policy on the Public Disclosure of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Information in 2008, the NATO Archives tasked itself to regularly exhibit publicly disclosed NATO documents, video, audio, photos, publications and artifacts to promote the increasing accessibility of its collection. The success of these exhibitions, which were all initially displayed at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, led not only to a boost in the visibility of the NATO...

L’article présente les étapes historiques du mouvement autochtone international, notamment depuis sa revivification dans les années soixante-dix. Les délégués autochtones venus défendre leurs droits devant diverses institutions ou mécanismes se sont alors rendu compte de la nécessité de la conservation de leur parole au niveau mondial, conservation nécessaire à leur plaidoyer. Si cette conservation peut paraître neutre par nature, elle est au contraire très sensible, ce qui explique pourquoi...

Desde la última década del siglo XX, los informes de los relatores de las Naciones Unidas como Joinet, Orentlicher o Pablo de Greiff han tomado conciencia del papel de los archivos en el esclarecimiento de la verdad, la impartición de la justicia, la reparación a las víctimas y las garantías de no repetición en el caso de las violaciones de derechos humanos. Sin embargo, los derechos humanos no solo se violan en guerras y regímenes dictatoriales. Las empresas, especialmente las...

On 10 December 1948 the Third General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a universal declaration, not a United Nations declaration. The Preamble of the Declaration begins by proclaiming that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. As archivists know, the nexus between human rights and archives is strong and...

La relación entre archivos y derechos humanos ha sido intensa desde que se elaborara la Declaración de Derechos del Hombre y del Ciudadano, en 1789. La creación del Registro Civil o de los registros de propiedad junto con otros archivos públicos respondían al reto de hacer posible el ejercicio de aquellos derechos. A ese reto inicial han seguido otros como el de la lucha contra la impunidad de los crímenes contra los derechos humanos, auspiciada por Naciones Unidas. Fue la ocupación de los...

Many people who grew up in care have gaps in their childhood memories and unanswered questions about their early lives. In the absence of family photos and stories they turn to records held by the local authorities and charities that looked after them. Accessing these records is a practically and emotionally challenging process. Response times are often long and the records received are redacted because they include confidential information about “third parties’” who are often family and...

Over the years, internationally-minded archivists have had to consider the possibility of taking custody of archives from another country because the archives are at risk in their country of origin. The risks may take many forms, but archives in war-zones and other disaster areas, and archives at environmental risk (including risks of climate change) provide striking examples. The removal of archives from one country to another is always likely to be controversial, however, and even...

In 1994, the European Monetary Institute (EMI) was established. Based first in Basel (Switzerland), and subsequently in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), the newly created institute was one of the most structurally significant outcomes of the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht and was intended to shepherd the creation of a new currency for the European Union - the Euro banknotes and coins - as well as to prepare for the establishment of the future European Central Bank (ECB). Unlike many other new...

Can genuine archival documents be used to manipulate our knowledge of the past? Of course, only three steps suffice: restrict historians' access to archives, select sources according to a desired premise and make sure your message reaches a wide audience, especially non-historians.

For several decades, Japan kept in place significant self-imposed constraints on its security policy even as its economy grew tremendously. While it has been argued that Japan refrained from enacting security policy change because of strong domestic pacifist or anti-militarist sentiments, recently, radical policy changes have nonetheless taken place. How can these changes be understood? The existing explanations typically see them as a response to objectively existing or constructed external...