A special Ukrainian installation - "One Desk. Two Traces" - has opened at UNESCO headquarters

First Lady Olena Zelenska met with UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany. Zelenska thanked for the consistent support of Ukraine, and also reported that a special Ukrainian installation, "One Desk. Two Traces," has opened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Zelenska wrote about this on Telegram, reports UNN. 

Today I am glad to meet in Paris with UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany and thank his organization for its consistent support of Ukraine. Back in 2022, when our country faced a full-scale invasion, a UNESCO office opened in Ukraine, which was an important sign of solidarity with us. Russia has already damaged or destroyed 1,949 cultural heritage sites and 2,576 cultural infrastructure objects in Ukraine. UNESCO documents these crimes (one of the recent ones being the destruction by Russians of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra), which gives hope for the restoration of what was lost and for fair punishment for the perpetrators

According to her, Ukraine not only has the support of international partners but also contributes to shaping global policy on the protection of education: it is a member of the High-Level Steering Committee for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 and of the UNESCO expert group on protecting education from attacks.

It is also valuable to me that the day before, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi, a special Ukrainian installation, "One Desk. Two Traces," opened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. It depicts a dual desk, one part of which is ordinary, the other mutilated by combat operations. This is exactly how Russian attacks in Ukraine mutilate schools and the very right of children to education. When we conceived this project for the campaign "Every generation leaves its mark. Education shapes its legacy," launched within the framework of the 5th Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, we wanted to show the consequences of the Russian war for education and school life instead of a thousand words. And now the desk is visiting leading world institutions (in particular, it was exhibited at PACE in Strasbourg and at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva) to testify about more than four thousand educational institutions in Ukraine damaged or destroyed by Russia

Let us recall 

Earlier, UNN reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, together with First Lady Olena Zelenska, will hold a meeting with the UNESCO Director-General to discuss further cooperation on the protection of Ukraine's cultural heritage.