The European Union provides EUR 2 million to the International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH) for its action in Ukraine to protect cultural heritage. ALIPH will be presenting its Action Plan for Ukraine and some of the results of this partnership with the EU at the Paris Peace Forum on 11-12 November.

"This cooperation between the European Commission and ALIPH is financing initiatives across Ukraine that are being led by local heritage professionals to protect the rich diversity of cultural heritage in museums, libraries, archives, and other heritage institutions. These people are on the front lines of heritage protection and we are committed to helping them", said Mr. Peter M. Wagner, Director and Head of the Foreign Policy Instruments Service of the European Commission.

Soon after the full scale Russian war of aggression against Ukraine broke out, ALIPH adopted a plan to protect the country's exceptional cultural heritage and quickly deployed its action on the ground. The European Union’s support has already contributed to financing the protection of the collections of more than 160 museums, libraries and archives, through the purchase or transportation of protective and fire safety equipment. It has also helped to upgrade nine large artefact storage facilities and four “heritage ambulances”: mobile laboratories to provide emergency restoration for cultural heritage. Monuments and sites are also being protected through documentation programmes, such as 3D digitisation of historical buildings. In addition, through a number of initiatives and projects, more than 200 cultural heritage professionals are receiving salary support to enable them to continue to fulfil their mission.

“The commitment made by the European Union to support the ALIPH Action Plan for Ukraine is the first partnership between our two entities. We are grateful to the EU for its trust in the ALIPH way – to respond quickly and focus on concrete projects. It is only by coming together in such times of crisis that we can hope to make a significant difference to assist our cultural heritage colleagues in Ukraine, and anywhere else in the world where our support might be needed during a conflict,” Mr. Valéry Freland, Executive Director, ALIPH noted.

The European Union supported ALIPH because of the agility of the model the Foundation has quickly put into place: to directly finance organisations in Ukraine, mostly with small grants, so they could purchase the materials they required. In cases they were not available in Ukraine, ALIPH purchased and shipped the supplies, often in cooperation with museums and organization from Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria and the United Kingdom.

This methodology was selected as a featured project by the Paris Peace Forum (11-12 November 2022), and it will be presented by ALIPH’s Executive Director, Mr. Valéry Freland, at the session entitled: Safeguarding world history: protecting cultural heritage from conflicts and fighting against art trafficking. In addition, ALIPH will present a photography exhibition to pay homage to the heritage professionals in Ukraine on the gates of the Paris Peace Forum venue – the Palais Brongniart. The EU is a partner of both these events. 

Additional Action Plan for Ukraine partners include the Principality of Monaco, the Getty Trust and all ALIPH Members – both public and private.