The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announced today, February 24, the allocation of $7 million to support Ukrainian efforts to protect its cultural heritage. Funds will be directed to several priority areas.
“The initiative was developed to support Ukraine’s efforts to protect and repair damage to Ukrainian cultural heritage sites and collections, as well as expand and strengthen public-private partnerships with civil society in Ukraine. It is part of the United States’ broader global efforts to preserve and protect cultural heritage,” mentioned in the official statement.
Thus, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Ukrainian NGOs and international partners, the Initiative will give priority to cultural heritage sites and collections directly impacted by russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. It will support activities such as documentation of damaged sites and collections for accountability, protection from damage and theft, emergency stabilization of damaged sites, development and implementation of conservation and restoration plans, coordination of cultural heritage responses, and specialized training.
“Thank you to Lee Satterfield, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, for this initiative and close cooperation. We continue to work,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy.
The Initiative complements broader efforts coordinated by ECA’s Cultural Heritage Center to support emergency preparedness and response, monitor russia’s destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine through the Conflict Observatory, and foster public-private partnerships to preserve and protect cultural heritage.
The $7 million in additional fundings builds on more than 20 years of U.S. cooperation with the Government of Ukraine in the field of cultural heritage protection and preservation through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund in for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).
