Institutional Memory Section

The entire League of Nations archives, League Official Documents, Universal Declaration of Human Rights preparatory materials, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide preparatory materials, Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights preparatory materials, Thanassis Aghnides private papers, International Association of Journalists private papers, René Claparède private papers, James Eric Drummond private papers, Sean Lester diaries and private papers, Paul Joseph Mantoux private papers, Wlodzimierz Moderow private papers, Adrianus Pelt private papers, and Bertha von Suttner papers are available online on the UN Archives Geneva platform.

UN Official Documents digitization programme

The UN Library & Archives Geneva has a programme to digitize official documents of the United Nations dating from 1946-1993 in all six official languages. The digitized documents, mainly Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and Trusteeship Council Official Records, are made available to the public in the Official Document System (ODS) and in the UN Digital Library. This work is done in collaboration with the Dag Hammarskjöld Library in New York.

Individual UN documents may be digitized on-demand at the request of clients. However, please note that priority will be given to the regular digitization programme. For more information, contact us at: https://ask.unog.ch.

Georgia

The Institutional Memory Section and the Permanent Mission of Georgia signed a digitization agreement on 3 February 2012. In February 2015, the National Archives of Georgia sent two specialists to Geneva to digitize roughly 25,000 pages of material from the private papers collection of Khariton Chavichvili (1886-1975), a prominent Georgian diplomat and journalist.

The Chavichvili papers provide a unique window into the history of Georgia during the Interwar Era and beyond. These archives consist of Chavichvili’s correspondence and manuscripts, as well as books and other publications about Georgia, U.S.S.R., and international relations.

Azerbaijan

Over 25,000 pages of League of Nations archival materials related to Azerbaijan and its neighbouring countries were digitized as part of a collaboration project between the Institutional Memory Section of the United Nations Library Geneva and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The project agreement was signed in December 2016, and the handover of the digitized documents took place in September 2017.

The collection includes a diverse set of documents, including official correspondence, Caucasus countries’ applications for League of Nations membership including maps and surveys on culture and politics, and the League’s official documents related to Azerbaijan and neighbouring countries.

The project, entitled “Digitization of the League of Nations Archives Related to Azerbaijan 1919-1946,” is aimed at assisting the research activities of the National Library of Azerbaijan and at further improving regional dialogue and cooperation in the Caucasus region.

Lithuania

The Institutional Memory Section and the Permanent Mission of Lithuania signed a digitization agreement on March 2014.

Early 2015, over 35,000 pages of archives relating to Lithuania’s activities at the League of Nations (1920-1946) were digitized.

These unique and significant materials provide evidence for a critical period in the history of Lithuania.