BNCU hosts capacity-building workshop on preparing dossiers
A day-long capacity-building workshop titled "Preparation of Nomination Dossiers for UNESCO Memory of the World (MoW) International and Asia-Pacific Regional Registers" was successfully held today, Wednesday at the conference room of the International Mother Language Institute, reports a press release.
The event was organised by the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO (BNCU).
In the opening address, the Deputy Secretary-General of BNCU highlighted that this workshop serves as a direct hands-on follow-up to previous preliminary seminars, aiming to equip institutions with actionable technical skills.
She added that documentary heritage—comprising rare manuscripts, archives, historical maps, photographs, audio-visual records, and digital documentation—serves as an invaluable record of a nation's history, culture, and scientific progress.
“The workshop was designed to strengthen institutional capacity across national memory institutions to preserve these assets according to international standards,” she also noted.
The workshop featured two key presentations:
Sessions 1 was delivered by the Desk Officer (Culture) of BNCU, Shayla Rafiq Lopa with a comprehensive overview of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, evaluation criteria, and technical guidelines for preparing international and regional nomination dossiers.
Session 2 was conducted by Asma Ferdousi, keeper at the Bangladesh National Museum, showcasing a practical case study on how the nomination dossier for the “Rupjalal” manuscript by Nawab Faizunnesa was prepared and submitted to UNESCO.
An interactive Q&A session enabled participants from 14 key stakeholder organisations—including the Department of Archives and Libraries, Bangladesh National Museum, Bangla Academy, Bangladesh Film Archive, Dhaka University, and Bangladesh Television—to engage in practical discussions and dossier preparation techniques.
This initiative serves as a pivotal step toward building a National MoW Register for Bangladesh and ensuring successful future nominations of the country's documentary heritage to UNESCO's international and regional registers.