International Archives Day
At the International Council on Archives (ICA) international Congress in Vienna in 2004, the 2000 participants adopted a resolution requesting the United Nations to create an International Archives Day. Some countries had already decided to have a national archives day, to raise awareness of the general public and the decision-makers about the importance of archives. The UNESCO General Conference at its 33rd session in Paris 2005 proclaimed the 27th October as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. The World Day is an appropriate opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of audiovisual archives. It brings new incentives to the benefit of the preservation of these archives. This was an excellent initiative, but these are not the only archives that are at risk and in need of attention. This is the reason why the ICA decided at its Annual General Meeting in November 2007 to launch the International Archives Day by its own, on the 9th of June. The date was obvious: on the 9th of June 1948, the International Council on Archives was created under the auspices of the UNESCO. This choice was adopted by ICA Executive Board, and adopted by the archives community as a whole.