Every year, International Archives Week brings together the global archival community to highlight the vital role of archives in society. In 2026, International Archives Week (#IAW2026) will take place from 8–12 June 2026, organised by the International Council on Archives (ICA) under the global theme #ArchivesForJustice: Rights, Memory & Futures.
As part of this global programme, the ICA is organising a series of online webinars throughout the week to explore how archives contribute to justice in diverse and evolving contexts.
This webinar, Raising Our Voice. What impact can the ICA Declaration for LGBTQI+ Archives and Archivists have on the profession?, is organised under ICA’s Working Group on Sex-Affective and Gender Diversity* Archives & Archivists (SAGDAA-WG) and will take place on Friday, 12 June 2026 at 16:00 CET (Paris time).
This online session will focus on the significance and potential impact of the ICA Declaration on LGBTQI+ and Sex-Affective and Gender Diversity Archives and Archivists, signed in October 2025 during the ICA Barcelona 2025 Congress. The Declaration sets out a vision for a more inclusive archival profession, calling for the recognition, preservation and visibility of LGBTQI+ histories, and encouraging stronger collaboration between institutional and community archives.
The session will explore the background and objectives of the Declaration, as well as its relationship with other ICA core documents. Speakers will address key issues such as the challenges of preserving LGBTQ archives in conservative societies and the implications of data sovereignty and privacy in digital archival environments.
The session will be introduced by Jordi Padilla-Delgado, moderated by Tom Adami, and will include contributions from Dr. Ihuoma Sandra Babatope and Raegan Swanson.
More information on presentations and speaker biographies can be found below.
KEY INFORMATION
Date
Friday, 12 June 2026
Time
16:00 – 17:30 CET (Paris time). To confirm the date/time of this session in your time zone, please use the following link.
Location
Online.
Language
English. Automated translation of subtitles will be available.
Date
Friday, 12 June 2026
Time
16:00 – 17:30 CET (Paris time). To confirm the date/time of this session in your time zone, please use the following link.
Location
Online.
Language
English. Automated translation of subtitles will be available.
Presentations
- “Introduction to the Barcelona Declaration for LGBTQI+ Archives and Archivists” by Jordi Padilla-Delgado
This presentation will introduce the Declaration, outlining its background, purpose and significance for the archival profession and the International Council on Archives (ICA). It will explore what the Declaration aims to achieve for ICA and its members, including proposals to support advocacy efforts such as crowdsourcing translations, in a similar approach to the Universal Declaration on Archives. The presentation will also examine the relationship, parallels and differences between the Declaration and other ICA core documents and declarations, including the Universal Declaration on Archives and the Adelaide/Tandanya Declaration.
- “Navigating challenges in collecting and preserving LGBTQ archives in conservative societies” by Dr. Ihuoma Sandra Babatope
This work examines the socio-political barriers faced by archivists in documenting LGBTQ histories in environments where such identities are marginalized. It highlights issues like legal restrictions, societal stigma and institutional neglect that inhibit the sharing of personal narratives. The importance of community engagement and the use of digital technologies for anonymity and protection are emphasized. Ethical considerations including informed consent and privacy are crucial for respectful archiving practices.
- “Data sovereignty and privacy at The ArQuives” by Raegan Swanson
The ArQuives, founded in 1973, are now among the largest independent LGBTQ2+ archives in the world, with vast collections ranging from personal papers to photographs and memorabilia, all preserving the diverse story of queer and trans lives across Canada and beyond! Raegan Swanson will address the issues surrounding data sovereignty, jurisdictional concerns and privacy in the era of cloud-based digital archives. How the current technology landscape can be fraught with geopolitical risks to long-term accessibility and preservation of online archives. ArQuives has recently switched to Canadian based servers to host their online archive presence in an effort to counter concerns raised by legislation such as the US Cloud Act.
Speakers
Jordi Padilla-Delgado
Jordi Padilla-Delgado works as a records manager at Lloret de Mar Municipal Archive (Catalonia, Spain). He holds a Master on Records Management, Information Access and Transparency and postgraduates on Electronic Records Management, Photographic Archives and Archives & Human Rights at ESAGED - Universitat Autònoma Barcelona (UAB). He’s currently one of the Sex-Affective and Gender Diversity Archives and Archivists Working Group of the ICA coordinators, and co-chair of the Diverse Sexuality and Gender Section of the Society of American Archivists. His main research subject is the world of LGBTQ+ archives.
Dr. Ihuoma Sandra Babatope
Dr. Ihuoma Sandra Babatope is Principal Librarian and Head of the Department of Library and Information Science at Delta State College of Education in Mosogar, Nigeria. She holds a Doctoral Degree in Library and Information Science from Delta State University in Abraka, Nigeria. She is a Certified Librarian of Nigeria and a member of several professional associations, including the Nigerian Library Association, the American Library Association, and the Association for Information Science and Technology. She is also a tutor and researcher with publications in local, national and international journals, books and encyclopaedias in Library and Information Science.
Raegan Swanson
Raegan Swanson (she/her/elle) has been the Executive Director at The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives since 2016. She holds a BA from Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, a Masters of Information from the University of Toronto iSchool, and a PhD in Archives and Records Management from the University of Dundee. She has worked as an archivist at Library and Archives Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute and as the Archival Advisor for the Council of Archives New Brunswick.
Tom Adami
Tom Adami has been an archivist and information manager since 1990 and holds a Master degree in history from Wollongong University, NSW Australia. In 1999 he joined the United Nations and for the next 24 years worked in various capacities as an archivist in the human rights field in the USA but mainly in East Africa in peacekeeping and with the Rwandan criminal tribunal.
He has been an active member of ICA since 2000. He has been a board member of the ICA Section on International Organisations (SIO), he has been engaged in the work of the ICA Section on Archives of Human Rights (SAHR) and he actively supports the work of the Sex-Affective and Gender Diversity Archives & Archivists (SAGDAA) Working Group. In 2017, he hosted both the ICA SIO annual conference in Arusha Tanzania and the ICA Executive Board meeting. Since Feb 2024 he has worked at the EU funded international court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, in The Hague as the Senior Information & Records Mgmt Adviser.
