UNESCO has announced the launch of a new large-scale initiative aimed at protecting Ukraine’s documentary heritage. The project will be funded by a grant of 2 million euros from the European Union.
- UNESCO has launched a new project to protect Ukraine’s documentary heritage.
- The project will receive €2 million in funding from the EU.
- The initiative covers the entire documentary heritage, including that of national minorities.
- Key areas: digitisation, emergency support for archives and open access.
From the local to the national level
UNESCO’s new initiative is a continuation of a previous project launched in February 2025, which focused on the preservation of Ukraine’s Jewish documentary heritage. In 2026, it was decided to expand the programme to cover documentary heritage across the whole country, with particular attention paid to the heritage of national minorities and ethnic communities.
«Russia is trying to destroy our memory, distort the facts and erase evidence of Ukrainian history. Protecting our documentary heritage is part of our resilience and national security,» emphasised Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy.
What the programme entails: key areas
The project will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, the State Archival Service, academic partners and the civil society sector. Funding will be directed towards several critical tasks, such as emergency support for memory institutions, digitisation and security, as well as open access to verified historical sources.
In particular, the programme provides for financial and technical support for archives, libraries and museums operating in frontline regions. Modern scanning systems will be developed and secure digital repositories will be created for the long-term preservation of documents.
A new impetus for culture and science
At the conference in Gdańsk Culture and science have been given a new impetus. In addition to the archiving project, UNESCO and Flanders have also allocated over 525 thousand euros to support Ukrainian researchers, in particular through the UNESRALE system providing remote access to international laboratories. The protection of Ukrainian archives under the new programme has become one of the cornerstones of the long-term restoration of the state’s identity.
