The Director of UNESCO has promised to donate $10 million for the reconstruction of Ukraine’s culture sector, which has been severely damaged

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay at the ceremony that commemorates the inscription of the historic center of Odesa in Ukraine on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The UNESCO Director, after a trip to Ukraine, promised to allocate more than $10 million to efforts to restore the country’s ruined artistic landscape after the war. However, a new UNESCO report estimates the dollar amount needed to properly rehabilitate Ukraine’s culture and heritage at $6.9 billion.

The UNESCO statement says that Audrey Azoulay spent two days visiting Kyiv, Chernihiv and Odessa together with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, reaffirming the organization’s support for the population and also in helping to restore the country’s cultural sector.

The UNESCO Comprehensive Recovery Plan projects a cost of “short term needs” (2023–2026) of US$2.3 billion and “medium and long term needs” (2027–2033) of US$4.6 billion, for a total of $6.9 billion.

The document says that the early stage is expected to include damage assessment and documentation, emergency measures for immovable and movable cultural property (including garbage collection), measures to stabilize and preserve cultural property, storage management, preparedness plans, and immediate conservation to prevent further loss and looting and to rebuild Ukraine’s devastated arts.

It should also be added that this plan should include alignment with international standards, enhanced legal protection and governance, the development of protocols and guidelines for the protection and restoration of cultural heritage, as well as a comprehensive digital architecture for the documentation and management of cultural property.

Azoulay tweeted that the organization is currently mobilizing over $10 million to strengthen its response to the education emergency in Ukraine. She also noted that among the funded initiatives is the training of Ukrainian architects, restorers and urban planners in on-site reconstruction. Meanwhile, in the northern city of Chernihiv, UNESCO will develop this year with local authorities a comprehensive project to rehabilitate the historic center on the country’s Tentative World Heritage List.

UNESCO maintains a constantly updated list of Ukraine’s arts and cultural sites affected by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Earlier this year, UNESCO added the historic center of the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa to its list of endangered World Heritage Sites. It is a move that offers Odessa additional international assistance along with the potential consequences of its destruction.

The UNESCO Comprehensive Recovery Plan projects a cost of “short term needs” (2023–2026) of US$2.3 billion and “medium and long term needs” (2027–2033) of US$4.6 billion, for a total of $6.9 billion.

The document says that the early stage is expected to include damage assessment and documentation, emergency measures for immovable and movable cultural property (including garbage collection), measures to stabilize and preserve cultural property, storage management, preparedness plans, and immediate conservation to prevent further loss and looting and to rebuild Ukraine’s devastated arts.

It should also be added that this plan should include alignment with international standards, enhanced legal protection and governance, the development of protocols and guidelines for the protection and restoration of cultural heritage, as well as a comprehensive digital architecture for the documentation and management of cultural property.

Azoulay tweeted that the organization is currently mobilizing over $10 million to strengthen its response to the education emergency in Ukraine. She also noted that among the funded initiatives is the training of Ukrainian architects, restorers and urban planners in on-site reconstruction. Meanwhile, in the northern city of Chernihiv, UNESCO will develop this year with local authorities a comprehensive project to rehabilitate the historic center on the country’s Tentative World Heritage List.

UNESCO maintains a constantly updated list of Ukraine’s arts and cultural sites affected by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Earlier this year, UNESCO added the historic center of the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa to its list of endangered World Heritage Sites. It is a move that offers Odessa additional international assistance along with the potential consequences of its destruction.

The port city founded by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great remains desirable in Russia due to its strategic location and historical value. The city is known for its cosmopolitan history and architectural landmarks, including the Odessa Opera House and the long harbor staircase immortalized in the classic 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin.

In July last year, as a result of hostilities, part of the Odessa Museum of Modern Art and the Odessa Museum of Fine Arts were destroyed. UNESCO has funded renovations to both museums, as well as efforts to digitize the art and provide protective equipment. Before the escalation of the conflict, there were more than 12 thousand works in the Odessa Museum of Fine Arts, but almost the entire collection was taken out for storage.