Botswana braces for world audiovisual day

For the first time in history, Botswana is commemorating world audio-visual heritage day on October 27 at the Little Theatre in Gaborone under the theme, ‘Enlisting Documentary Heritage to Promote Inclusive, Just and Peaceful Societies.’

World Audio-Visual Heritage Day was set aside by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to remind people about the need to conserve and safeguard valuable audiovisual resources for future generations. Director of the Department of National Archives and Records Services, Dineo Phuti said that the purpose of the celebration is to raise awareness of the significance and preservation risks of recorded sound and audio-visual documents.

Phuti said the commemoration is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 16 which seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Phuti noted that it is important that the public is aware of the preservation and safeguarding methods that are used to protect audio visual heritage.

She explained that the SDG 16 also speaks to ensuring public access to information and protecting the fundamental freedoms of people in line with the national law. Audio-visuals are information resources commonly described as “non-print” documents, they deliver information other than text on a printed format. Examples include, film, sound recordings and other productions comprising moving images and or recorded sounds, non-literary or graphical material such as photographs. The celebration will bring together people from the information science management, historians, researchers, administrators, students and the general public.

According to the Principal Archivist at the Botswana National Archives and Records Services, Moses Mafatlhe, there are four centres, two of which are in Gaborone where one can access national documentary heritage.

The other two are in Kanye and Francistown. Members of the public can access the documents free of charge and a small fee is included to reproduce the documents. Mafatlhe said they are currently implementing the national archives and records management system to computerise and modernise their record management systems. The general public will soon be able to access national heritage documentary heritage through this system. Records give a platform to people to have a foundation through which they can hold the government accountable on the things they said they would do, moreover archives promote transparency and accountability.