NHK & UNESCO to continue the Heritage Images Archives Initiative

NHK and UNESCO today exchanged their third partnership agreement on archiving the world’s tangible and intangible heritage in digital hi-definition format to pass on to future generations. The exchange took place in Kyoto, Japan, at the close of the 40th World Heritage Convention.

The partnership aims to enhance “UNESCO-NHK Heritage Images Archives Initiative”, which was set up in August 2004 and was renewed in 2009. Under this partnership, NHK has produced World Heritage programs and created vast footage archives in cooperation with UNESCO. So far, nearly 700 episodes have been produced through this initiative.

Under the new agreement, both parties undertook to continue archiving footage of world’s tangible and intangible heritage, releasing the archived footage on UNESCO’s websites in six UN official languages and exhibiting them in UNESCO facilities, as well as to further develop multi-language versions of the World Heritage education kit.

During a meeting to celebrate the renewal of this partnership, NHK Managing Director Mr Yukinori Kida and UNESCO Director-General Ms Irina Bokova, agreed to further strengthen their cooperation and maintain this strategic partnership.