UNESCO includes the historic center of the Ukrainian city of Odessa on its World Heritage list

25 Jan. () –

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included the historic center of the Ukrainian city of Odesa, located in the south of the country, on its World Heritage list to “recognize its universal value”.

UNESCO has indicated in a statement that, with this inclusion, it highlights the global duty to “protect” the place in question, especially in full Russian invasion of the territory. In this sense, he stressed that in accordance with the Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the 194 countries that have adopted the document “should avoid taking measures that endanger this type of property and cooperate to guarantee its protection “.

It has also indicated that this new status gives kyiv the opportunity to “request financial and technical assistance at the international level to achieve adequate protection and restoration, especially in case the city is damaged.”

The application for the port city of Odessa to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list was submitted by the Ukrainian authorities in October 2022, but the decision was made after accelerating the process precisely because of the armed conflict.

“These actions are part of UNESCO’s action plan for Ukraine, which has already involved the mobilization of 18 million dollars to cover costs in education, science, culture and information,” the text states.