President Soekarno's Speech At The 1960 UN General Assembly Entered The World Collection

President Soekarno at the opening ceremony of PON II 1951 at Ikada Stadium, Jakarta. (Wikimedia Commons/Tropenmuseum)

JAKARTA - The United Nations Agency for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) designated the archives of Soekarno's speech at the UN General Assembly in 1960 as Memory of the World (MoW) or World Collective Memory.

"Based on the UNESCO plenary Executive Board session on 10-24 May 2023, the archives of Bung Karno's speech at the UN General Assembly in 1960 have been decided and determined as Indonesia's proposal as MoW," said National Archives Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia Rieke Diah Pitaloka, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, May 25.

The Indonesian Expert Council for Memory of The World UNESCO added that the archives of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia's speech were entitled "To Build the World Anew".

Thus, he said, currently there are three important archives known as the 20th Century Gold Devils that have been designated as MoWs.

The three archives, namely archives of the Asia Africa Conference (KAA) in Bandung in 1955, archives of the First Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade in 1961, as well as archives of the speech of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno at the UN General Assembly in 1960.

The three Gold Inkta of the 20th Century, he said, was proposed as MoW through ANRI.

His party assessed that the three archives are symbolic capitals for Indonesia to position themselves in the current and future geopolitical arenas.

"As well as a reminder to exist in the political principles of the founding fathers of the nation which aims for Indonesia's national interests as an independent and sovereign nation involved in the struggle for world peace," he said.

He admitted that in 2013 he discussed with the fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri about the nation's travel archives that contributed to the journey of world civilization.

In the discussion, it was stated that important archives into the collective memory of the nation and the world, can be used as a guide for the life of the Indonesian nation today and the future.

In this regard, he expressed his appreciation and gratitude to all parties who have provided support to the archive to become a World Collective Memory.

"Thank you to Mrs. Megawati, to President Joko Widodo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and the ranks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesian Ambassador to France, Indonesian Ambassador to UNESCO Prof. Ismunandar, Head of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) Imam Gunarto, friends in the struggle in ANRI, and all Indonesian people," he said.