Documentation on Holocaust victims, a collection of Buddhist scriptures written on stones from Myanmar, two rare manuscripts from Nepal and diaries belonging to Ernesto Che Guevara are among 54 new additions to UNESCO's 'Memory of the World Register.'
"The items presented by Israel, Myanmar, Nepal are the first inscriptions on the Register for these countries," UNESCO said in a news release on the newest additions to the prestigious list recognizing documentary heritage.
These items were selected by the U.N. cultural agency from among 84 petitions submitted for selection by 54 countries and the International Commission for the International Tracing Service (ITS).
They were chosen on Wednesday by the International Consultative Committee for the Memory of the World Program, now meeting in Gwangju, South Korea, and approved by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
Established in 1992, Memory of the World Program aims to counter the parlous state of preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage in various parts of the world, according to the UNESCO website.
Inscriptions from Nepal consist of 'Nisvasattatvasamhita,' the earliest surviving tantric manuscript, and 'Susrutasamhita,' the oldest document in the field of Ayurveda written on 1134- year-old palm leaf manuscript.
"I congratulate Nepal for the inscriptions of the two manuscripts in the Memory of the World Register. I am confident that their inclusion in the Register contributes to creating greater awareness of the need to preserve Nepal's memory held in the country's archives and libraries," said Nepal's UNESCO representative Axel Plathe.
Israel proposed the Pages of Testimony designed by Yad Vashem to commemorate some of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The forms were filled out between 1954 and 2004 by the victims' relatives and friends, many with photographs.
Myanmar authorities submitted and recommended for inclusion the 'Maha Lawkamarazein' or 'Kuthodaw' Inscription Shrines. The collection includes 729 stone slabs on which are inscribed the whole of the Buddhist scriptures whose religious and social significance is important for Asia. It records the Fifth Great Synod convened by King Mindon and which was the significant event of the Buddhist religion and its devotees.
Other notable work is the collection of life and work of the South American revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara which includes his notes, diaries, speeches, medical research and other documents submitted by Bolivia and Cuba.
"It is the expression of an ongoing search begun in his youth, which leads him to follow his vocation as a revolutionary," the Cuban and Bolivian proposal stated.
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