The MOW was launched by UNESCO to avoid and fight this "loss of memories", and is

• an “advocacy forum of exchange” to develop governments' awareness on the importance of their historical heritage and to give them the opportunity to work at it on all levels for an international, regional, national and intergovernmental cooperation;
• a work in progress to build up an international input represented by UNESCO, but necessarily supported at a regional and mostly national level to be effective;
• a programme which gives to governments the opportunity to discover and invest in their own cultural resources with a new practical and tangible mission: being able to see their historical heritage inscribed on the Memory of the World Register (Word File 83 KB).