Government Monitors Initiatives to Strengthen the Preservation of Timor-Leste’s Documentary Heritage
On September 29th, 2026, at the Government Palace in Dili, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, received the Executive Director of the Chega! National Centre and Chair of the Timor-Leste Memory of the World Committee, Hugo Fernandes, accompanied by the President of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) and Chair of the Indonesian National Memory of the World Committee, Mego Pinandito, for a presentation on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme and initiatives to preserve and promote Timor-Leste’s documentary heritage.
The meeting provided an opportunity to present to Minister Agio Pereira the work carried out and the initiatives planned under the Memory of the World Programme, as well as the cooperation among the Chega! National Centre, the Timor-Leste Memory of the World Committee, ANRI, and UNESCO to strengthen national capacities for the conservation, organisation, and digitisation of documentary heritage; support the identification of documentation with potential for recognition under the Programme; and continue preserving and promoting Timor-Leste’s historical memory.
Established by UNESCO in 1992, the Memory of the World Programme promotes the preservation of access to, and recognition of documentary heritage of historical and cultural significance at national, regional, and international levels.
Cooperation between Timor-Leste and Indonesia in this area has included the exchange of experiences and knowledge on document preservation and the Memory of the World Programme’s mechanisms, as well as training initiatives in archival organisation, conservation, restoration, and digitisation, with the participation of the Chega! National Centre, the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia, and UNESCO.
This work supports the capacity-building efforts of the Chega! National Centre, which opened its new Archives Centre in June 2026 to preserve and provide access to documentation on Timor-Leste's recent history and the work of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation.
The Director-General of the National Archives of Timor-Leste, Fernando Moura; the National Director of the National Archives of Timor-Leste, Elizeu A. da C. Soares; representatives of the National Commission of Timor-Leste for UNESCO and the Chega! National Centre; and members of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia and the Embassy of Indonesia in Timor-Leste also attended the meeting.
