The Prince’s Government and the ALIPH Foundation join forces to protect Odessa’s museums

Madame Isabelle BERRO-AMADEÏ et Monsieur Valéry FRELAND ©Direction de la Communication - Manuel Vitali

Ms Isabelle BERRO-AMADEÏ, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Mr Valéry FRELAND, Executive Director of the ALIPH Foundation (International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas), have signed a funding agreement with the primary aim of safeguarding and securing cultural assets in the two museums of the city of Odessa, Ukraine, which are threatened by bombing, potential looting, and other damage caused by the war.

Since the start of the conflict, on 24 February 2022, numerous Ukrainian cultural heritage sites and objects have sustained serious damage, causing irreparable harm to the heritage, culture, and identity of the people of Ukraine.

ALIPH, founded in 2017, works to protect sites, monuments, museums, libraries, archives and their collections in around thirty countries that are either experiencing war or emerging from crises. On 7 March 2022, the Foundation put in place an action plan to protect the heritage of Ukraine. The plan aims to support practical actions to assist Ukrainian museums, by carrying out inventories, purchasing equipment to protect artworks and other exhibits, and securing buildings and storage areas.

The Prince’s Government attaches great importance to preserving worldwide heritage, a commitment reflected in its foreign policy, and was keen to work alongside ALIPH in order to protect the richness and diversity of Ukrainian heritage.

The funding agreement signed on 13 September by the Principality of Monaco and ALIPH will allow the collections of two of Odessa’s major museums to be protected.

It strengthens the collaboration initiated with the Foundation in 2020, which was then focused on protecting heritage in north-eastern Syria (including the restoration of the museum of Raqqa) and in Lebanon.