UNESCO launched the Memory of the World programme, in a bid to prevent our collective loss of memory and promote the preservation of archives and library collections around the world and to ensure that they are diffused as widely as possible.

The Memory of the World Register is a list of all collections of historiclal documents which have been identified by the International Advisory Committee and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO as meeting the selection criteria for world significance.

In 1997, UNESCO decided to include in the Memory of the World Register the historic documents relating to the Suez Canal held by the Association and the Suez Canal Authority.

On June 2nd 1999, UNESCO General Manager Federico Mayor unveiled a plaque in the Association's head office in Rue d'Astorg, commemorating the event.