To address the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the culture sector, UNESCO has launched a weekly “Culture & COVID-19: Impact and Response Tracker” to provide an overview of the rapidly evolving situation. It explores both the immediate impact of the health crisis and examples of how countries around the world are adapting to the situation. This is one of several initiatives by the Organization to respond to the impact of the pandemic on the cultural sector worldwide.
Issue 1
Empty UNESCO World Heritage sites, cultural events cancelled, cultural institutions closed, community cultural practices suspended, heightened risk of looting of cultural sites and poaching at natural sites, artists unable to make ends meet and the cultural tourism sector greatly affected… The impact of the COVID-19 on the cultural sector is being felt around the world. This impact is social, economic and political – it affects the fundamental right of access to culture, the social rights of artists and creative professionals.....
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Issue 2
Data from the World Health Organization shows that COVID- 19 now has a f i rm grip on every continent, with governments putting in place wide- spread confinement or mobility restrictions on an unprecedented scale. 128 countries have now entirely closed down their cultural institutions. In these circumstances, billions of people are turning to culture as a source of comfort, well- being and connection.
Issue 3
The UN World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO) reports that 96% of all worldwide destinations have introduced full or partial restrictions since the end of January. The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts that up to 75 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are under immediate threat, equating to a loss of US$2 . 1 trillion GDP in 2020.
Issue 4
According to the International Council on Museums ( ICOM), 95 % of the estimated 60, 000 museums worldwide are closed due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. In the immediate term, the closure of museums poses great challenges in terms of access to culture. Whilst many museums around the world have been able to adapt through online solutions such as virtual tours or engaging the public through social media challenges, this is not possible for all museums across the world due to l imited capacities or digital infrastructure. For example, the world’ s most visited museum ( 9 . 3 million visitors annually), the Louvre ( France) has seen a four- fold increase in virtual connections, to 400, 000 per day, whilst hundreds of people have recreated famous works of art using ordinary household objects.
The closures of cultural institutions, archaeological sites and heritage sites, have led to reports of increased insecurity for cultural property and sites around the world. Particularly in countries experiencing conflict or post- conflict, the pandemic is exacerbating an already fragile security situation. The closures of sites that rely heavily on tourism to maintain their budgets could make longer term management of the site and working conditions more precarious. In some instances, i t could also negatively impact conservation and research work done at the sites, unless emergency measures are put in place.