VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

For the umpteenth time, Indonesia's historical archives have been designated as Memory of the World by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). There are three Indonesian documentary archives that are considered to have high historical value, namely, the Speech of Indonesia's first President Soekarno, entitled 'To Build the World A new' which was delivered at the United Nations on September 30, 1960; First Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade 1961; and Hikayat Aceh 17th century AD.

The three archives were designated as Memory of the World at the 216th UNESCO Executive Council Session in Paris, Franceon May 10-14, 2023. The presentation was carried out by Indonesia's Permanent Representative at UNESCO, Prof. Ismunandar to the Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah at the Ministry of Foreign AffairsinJakarta on Monday (3/7).

With the designation and submission of the three certificates, Indonesia now has 11 out of a total of 496 World Collective Memory documents that have been determined by UNESCO. The other eight certificates are the VOC Archives, Archives of the Asian-African Conference, Chronicle of Diponegoro, Borobudur Conservation Archives, Tsunami Archives, La Galigo, Nagarakartagama, and Panji Stories.

The determination of 3 Indonesian historical archives to become Memories of the World is,of course,a matter of pride for the Indonesian people, especially for the world of Indonesian diplomacy in the international arena. Sukarno's or Bung Karno's speech entitled To Build the World A New (Building the World Again) invited the world community to rebuild the world based on the Indonesian nation's philosophy, namely Pancasila. Menawhile, the First Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1961 was the date of the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the cold war era.

At that time, the developing countries agreed to show an impartial attitude between the American and Soviet blocs with their respective allies. Indonesia from the beginning has played a central role in the formation of the Movement. The principles and objectives of the NAM are a reflection of Indonesia's struggle and national goals as stated in the 1945 Constitution, particularly the spirit of independence and anti-colonialism.

Meanwhile, the Aceh Hikayat manuscript is a rare collection written in the 17th century AD and tells about the journey of Sultan Iskandar Muda as the most powerful and greatest sultan in the Aceh Sultanate.

Hopefully,this international recognition can inspirethe entire Indonesian nation tokeepprotectingand maintainingvaluable historical archives.