On 19 December 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On Museums and Museum Affairs’, initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
They are based on recommendations provided by Canadian partners as part of Ukraine’s cooperation with the Government of Canada on the construction of the second phase of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide, and relate to refining and clarifying the work of the institution itself.
In particular, a Supervisory Board and an Expert Board will now be established at the Museum.
The Supervisory Board will oversee the museum’s activities, monitor the Director-General’s performance of their duties, compliance with the terms of their contract, and the conduct of financial and operational activities; it will also make recommendations to the museum director regarding their work and assist in securing additional sources of funding.
The Holodomor Museum’s Expert Board will coordinate the institution’s research work. In particular, it will provide the Director-General with recommendations on organising and conducting academic research, integrating the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide into the global academic community, and expanding and improving international academic cooperation, amongst other matters.
The amendments to the legislation aim to enhance the institutional capacity of the Holodomor Museum and act as a safeguard against the country’s political situation affecting the Museum’s operations. Most importantly, the existence of these advisory bodies will help to prevent, in future, the manipulation and falsification of the Holodomor topic, as occurred in the institution’s history in 2021, when falsified and academically unverified data on the demographic losses suffered by Ukrainians during the Holodomor were published as definitive and the only correct figures.
