UNESCO, with EU support, allocates €2 million to preserve Ukraine’s documentary heritage

During the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2026) in Gdańsk, UNESCO announced the launch of an initiative to protect and preserve Ukraine’s documentary heritage. The project will be implemented with financial support from the European Union.

The European Union is allocating €2 million to expand the programme for the preservation of Ukraine’s documentary heritage and to ensure digital and inclusive access to information. The initiative builds on work launched in 2025 under a project dedicated to preserving Ukraine’s Jewish documentary heritage and will be expanded to cover the country’s documentary heritage as a whole, including the heritage of national communities.

“Ukraine’s recovery depends on our ability to protect what makes us a nation and to invest in the people who will shape our future. I am grateful to UNESCO, the European Union, and all our partners for their support of Ukraine’s documentary heritage. Together, we preserve historical truth, strengthen resilience, and create new opportunities for future generations,” said Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy of Ukraine – Minister of Culture of Ukraine.

The programme is aimed, in particular, at:

• supporting archives, libraries, and other memory institutions, including those in frontline regions;
• developing digitisation systems and long-term digital preservation;
• supporting the documentary heritage of national minorities;
• ensuring open access to documentary heritage;
• strengthening democratic resilience and countering the falsification of history.

The initiative will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the State Archival Service of Ukraine, and other partners.

Source: Ministry of Culture of Ukraine