UNESCO is the third assessment of the damage and needs since February 2022, which was carried out jointly by the World Bank, the Ukrainian government, the European Commission, and the United Nations.
This estimate covers a total of 4,779 cultural and tourist assets reported as damaged by the Ukrainian authorities. This includes damage to sites and buildings of heritage value (estimated at $2.41 billion); damage to works of art, collections, and cultural repositories ($161 million); damage to buildings and workshops dedicated to the cultural and creative industries ($262 million); and damage to tourism facilities ($650 million). The Kharkiv region was by far the worst affected, accounting for almost 25% of the damage recorded, followed by Donetsk region at 14.7% and Odesa region at 7.6%.
Since February 2022, the culture and tourism sectors have also accumulated lost revenues of $19.6 billion, representing an increase of 30% in one year. More than half of this loss – $10.6 billion – has been incurred by the city of Kyiv alone, mainly due to the fall in tourist numbers and the sudden slowdown of the creative industries.
According to UNESCO, nearly $9 billion will need to be raised between 2024 and 2033 to finance the recovery and reconstruction efforts. This funding requirement has increased by 30% in one year.
To meet the most urgent needs, UNESCO has raised more than $66 million over the past 2 years from its Member States and the private sector. Japan alone has supported the Organization’s efforts in Ukraine to the tune of almost $26 million. These funds have been used to implement dozens of short- and medium-term actions in the fields of culture, heritage, education, and the media. The Organization has also opened a liaison office in Kyiv to coordinate all of its operations, currently staffed by a team of around twenty people.
Among other initiatives in the field of culture, UNESCO conducts the following:
• Preventing damage
Since spring 2022, UNESCO has been supporting the protection of cultural property by supplying emergency equipment and setting up risk management systems. It advises Ukrainian cultural professionals on protecting works of art and improving fire prevention systems. UNESCO has also begun to inventory and 3D-digitize cultural property in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Chernihiv. This data will provide an essential documentary basis for reconstruction, and enhance UNESCO’s efforts to fight the illicit trafficking of cultural property, already being implemented through its training and coordination of the police and justice services at regional level.
• Paving the way for reconstruction
UNESCO has initiated several consolidation and repair projects, including in Odesa at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Archaeology, and the House of Scientists, as well as at several museums in Kyiv. In Odesa, whose historic center has been on the World Heritage List since January 2023, the Organization will soon install a temporary roof on the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, thanks to support from Italy, to protect the nave from bad weather while reconstruction work is carried out.
• Training 1600 cultural professionals
Over the past two years, UNESCO and its partners have trained more than 1,600 cultural professionals to build the capacity of national and local institutions throughout Ukraine, the majority of whose staff had never before been faced with emergency situations. The training included damage assessment, securing museum collections and historic buildings, and preserving living heritage.
• Support for cultural life
UNESCO has funded residencies for nearly 100 artists in exile. It is also working to ensure the continuation of cultural activities in Ukraine. To achieve this goal, it has just awarded grants to 14 new artistic projects across the country. To support Ukraine’s artistic and cultural community, a UNESCO cultural center will open in Lviv in mid-2024, thanks to funding from Spain.