World · Kampala, Uganda · Elections hub
UNESCO project races to save Uganda's historic radio tapes and records before they decay
In brief
UNESCO said on October 22, 2026 that it is working with the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) to rescue one of Africa's largest public media archives. With support from Japan and experts from the University of Western Australia, the project will train UBC staff and digitize the most at-risk recordings: about 360 quarter-inch radio reels and 1,600 shellac and vinyl records.
What is at risk
UNESCO describes the UBC collection as carrying unique historical value, with material on Uganda's colonial period, its later decades of political change, pan-Africanism and the Cold War era. The problem is age: the chemicals in old tapes and records break down, and many items are approaching the end of their life. Once a tape becomes too brittle or sticky to play, its sound can be lost for good.
How the project will work
The plan has four parts. Staff will attend a workshop on curating, preserving, digitizing and cataloguing old media so they can run future projects on their own. The team will digitize and catalogue the reels and records and move the originals into archive-grade storage. It will write long-term standards, based on UNESCO good practice, to protect the archive from political, social and environmental shocks. Finally, UBC will host a workshop to share what it learns with other heritage institutions in Uganda.
VSH take: this kind of quiet rescue work matters more than it looks. Old radio recordings capture voices, music and everyday language that are rarely written down, and digitizing them is often the only way students and families will ever hear them. If you have old recordings at home, our free audio to text tool can help you make a written copy.
ViralScopeHub is an independent news summary site and is not affiliated with UNESCO, the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation or the University of Western Australia.
Why it matters
Digitizing decaying tapes and records keeps decades of East African history, music and voices available for students, researchers and families.
People also ask
What is UNESCO doing with Uganda's media archive?
Working with the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, Japan and the University of Western Australia to train staff and digitize the most at-risk recordings.
How many recordings will be digitized?
About 360 quarter-inch radio reels and 1,600 shellac and vinyl records, which will also be catalogued and stored in archive-grade housing.
Why do old tapes and records need saving?
Their chemical materials break down with age, so recordings can become unplayable. Digital copies preserve the sound before that happens.
Related free tools: Audio to Text (AI Transcription)
Sources
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