"One who doesn't know ones past, cannot be successful in the present and in the future! We should all learn from the past". With these words of the sheikh, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the father of the United Arab Emirates, the 19th Congress of the International Archives Council, which is being held from October 9 to 13 in Abu Dhabi, was opened. The congress with the motto "Enriching Knowledge Societies" has five topics: 1. Peace and tolerance; 2. Emerging technologies; 3. Sustainable knowledge – sustainable planet: Archives, documents and climate change; 4. Trust and evidence and 5. Availability and memories.
About 5,000 archival experts from 135 countries participate at the Congress, which is held every four years, including the Republic of North Macedonia, which is a full-fledged member country of this most massive and significant world archival organization, which has existed since 1948. Workshops are also held within the Congress, where experiences and ideas are also exchanged for the overall improvement of professional archival work. The former President of France, Francois Hollande, and the President of the International Archives Council and Director of the National Archives of Luxembourg, José Kirps, addressed the opening ceremony of the Congress, focusing on the essence of Archives, the significance of the historical documents for our future and the influence of climate change on them. Specifically, in the sustainability of the Archives and our planet Earth.
At the invitation of the International Archives Council and the National Library and Archives of Abu Dhabi, the State Archives was represented at this Congress by the director, Dr. Emil Krsteski, as a delegate to the Congress Assembly, and Svetlana Usprtsova, head of the Department, and they will also attend several bilateral working meetings with colleagues from Europe and the world.
