UNESCO's Executive Board has adopted a resolution calling for revised guidelines around its documentary registration system to secure transparency and avoid conflicts among member states.
The move on Thursday came in the wake of the U.N. body's listing last year of China's Nanjing Massacre papers on its "Memory of the World" program drew a strong protest from Japan, which doubted whether UNESCO was "neutral and fair" in registering them.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at the time that Tokyo would consider stopping or reducing its financial contributions to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
It was followed by culture minister Hiroshi Hase's call in a meeting with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova in Paris last November for improving the transparency and fairness of the screening and registration process.
Bokova emphasized the importance of not dividing member countries, according to Hase.
The resolution, originally submitted by Germany, does not preclude future discussions on the new guidelines, but strongly asks for measures to be implemented to curb overheated lobbying activity for documentary registration.
In line with the resolution, UNESCO's secretariat is set to draft revisions to the guidelines by October and seek approval at a "Memory of the World" summit to be held next January in Abu Dhabi.