Regional Memory of the World committees are cooperative structures that bring together people from two or more countries in order to pursue the Programme’s objectives. The grouping may be geographically based, or based on other parameters such as shared cultures or interests, or grouped around regional offices of UNESCO. Regional committees provide a means of addressing issues which fall outside the practical scope of the International Advisory Committee on the one hand, and of individual national committees on the other, and provide a mechanism for cooperation and complementation beyond the national level. Membership would normally include representatives of the national committees relevant to the grouping. There are three regional committees: the African Regional Committee for the Memory of the World (ARCMOW), the Memory of the World Committee forAsia/Pacific (MOWCAP) and the Memory of the World Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (MOWLAC).
In the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (MOWLAC) of the Memory of the World Programme the members participate in a personal capacity, in view of their expertise and skills in the issues of the MOW Programme.
The terms of reference for regional committees include the following:
• maintaining a regional Memory of the World International register;
• nominating groups of documentary heritage to the regional or international registers that cross national boundaries or are otherwise unlikely to be proposed;
• encouraging cooperation and training within the region;
• managing projects within the region;
• “backstopping” for countries in the region that do not have national committees;
• encouraging the establishment of national committees and coaching them;
• region-wide coordination of publicity and awareness-raising.