On August 30, Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, met with Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, and representatives of the UNESCO Secretariat, at the Organization’s headquarters in Paris.
The Ukrainian Minister expressed new needs aimed at supporting Ukrainian culture, which the Organization is committed to meet. At the same time, UNESCO will take new measures to protect Ukrainian cultural heritage, in particular in Odesa and L’viv.
“We managed to agree on actions to accelerate funding from UNESCO for the specific needs of the cultural sphere of Ukraine already this year. It was also about the accelerated inscription of Odesa on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, as well as about specific steps to help eliminate the impact of the war on Odesa’s cultural institutions,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy.
The parties have agreed on specific in-depth cooperation measures and signed a Letter of Intent.
The priorities of cooperation in the field of culture are defined as:
- monitoring, assessment and documentation of damage of the cultural heritage of Ukraine;
- reconstruction and restoration of the cultural heritage of Ukraine;
- revival of the institutional capacity of institutions of culture and cultural education;
- strengthening of cultural and creative industries of Ukraine;
- digital transformation of cultural heritage management, development of digital infrastructure, etc.
With a view to boosting the restoration of Ukraine’s cultural sector of Ukraine, Audrey Azoulay also offered the Organization’s support for the creation of a UNESCO Cultural Center in L’viv. The center can become a platform for meetings of creative professionals and exchange of experience, hosting training programs and various events. A budget of $1.5 million has already been earmarked to finance its opening and operational costs over several months.
The Director-General of UNESCO decided to deploy a liaison officer in Kyiv to coordinate these actions. This officer will complement the team of local experts.
It should be reminded that UNESCO constantly cooperates with Ukraine in the field of culture. So, in July, representatives of the Organization visited Ukraine, in particular, the cities of Kyiv region destroyed by russians, – Borodianka and Irpin.
