Manuel Amaya

OF THE SITUATION FACING MUSEUMS II. MUSEUM ACTIVITIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS III. PUBLIC MEASURES IN SUPPORT OF MUSEUMS IV. PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXE 1 : DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY ANNEXE 2 : QUESTIONNAIRE TO MEMBER STATES

More than 80% of Member States (including those with the largest museum networks) mention that these measures were applied not only to national museums, but to the whole museum sector.

The cultural sector has been severely and persistently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with museums particularly hard hit: the 2020 UNESCO report estimated that nearly 90%, or an estimated 85,000 institutions, had been closed for varying lengths of time. The role of museums in society is essential, as they are responsible not only for preserving heritage for future generations but also as central actors for promoting lifelong learning and equal access to culture and the dissemination of values on which humanity is based. Their function in terms of social inclusion is vital to ensuring the cohesion of our societies, and they are also major players in the creative and tourism economies.

In this particularly difficult context, UNESCO has launched a 2021 study to reassess, based on contributions from UNESCO Member States, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on museum attendance, budgets and activities in order to analyze the threats to the sector and its evolution in the next few years. The questions focused mainly on national museums, but according to responses by 87 Member States 1 , similar measures have been followed by most museums.

KEY TRENDS

Update of the situation facing museums

With the contributions of Member States, the survey has helped refine our overall knowledge of the museum sector worlwide. The number of museums in the world is estimated to be close to 104,000 I but these institutions are not evenly distributed: 61% of the institutions are located in Western Europe and North America, 18% in Asia-Pacific, 11% in Eastern Europe, 8% in Latin America and Caribbean, but only 0.8% in Africa and 0.7% in the Arab States.

83% of the States responding to the survey took measures to close in 2020, either totally or partially, for periods ranging from less than a month to a year. On average, these closures were adopted for over 150 days in 2020. Museum attendance has fallen sharply in all States. Even for institutions that remained open with sanitary measures in place, the drastic decrease in world tourism resulted in a drop in attendance of 70%. Based on estimates from the survey results, the revenues of the institutions (especially the national museums) have decreased between 40% and 60% in comparison to the revenues from 2019.

The evolution of the health crisis has caused nearly half of the States (43% of responses) to take measures to close museums again in 2021, which raises concerns that the situation for museums will remain very difficult this year.

Museum activities in times of crisis

The most visible impact on the activity of museums corresponds to their educational and social work. The interruption of traditional educational activities (school visits, guided tours, workshops) as a result of the pandemic was a painful experience for schools. Yet, many measures have been taken for museums to continue their knowledge dissemination work, either by setting up new devices (mediation kits that can be used by families outside of museums), by using other media, or by the development of digital tools. Here, the role of information and communication technologies, widely referred to in the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation on Museums, has confirmed its value, having been deployed by utilizing prior digitization investments, the development of virtual visits, the use of social networks, etc. The digital divide between regions, already highlighted in previous reports, has been a major obstacle to fulfilling the educational function of museum's, in the context of lockdown.

The activities of museums are not only related to education. The pandemic has also made difficult the maintainance of measures around the security and preservation of collections and has raised concerns in several States. The world of museums, on the other hand, has particularly recognized the social role it is called upon to play, especially, for example, in the context of the Black Lives Matter 2 movement in the United States of America, and more generally in the context of the global economic crisis that has hit societies. This twofold observation leads museums to renew their commitment to the issues of contemporary societies. In this regard, museums have been supported by national and international museum associations of professionals, which act as essential partners in the development of the sector.

I This estimate includes the United States of America and Israel as the objective of the study was to have a global view of the museum sector.

Public measures in support of museums

Like UNESCO, Member States have taken many measures to support museums during the pandemic. Some assisted in setting up safety protocols in the event of confinement and the reopening of museums, and others published numerous documents regarding the actions to be taken in compliance with the health measures to protect the public and professionals.

In terms of funding, public subsidies have remained stable for a quarter of the States that replied to this specific question and have even increased (to compensate for losses due to closures) for another quarter, but they have decreased, sometimes very significantly (by more than 40%), for almost half of the museums in the Member States that responded to the survey.

Preparing for the future

In this respect, the main threats to museums are related to the decrease in revenue and its impact on the organization of the museum sector in general, as well as to the overall consequences of the crisis on the conservation or security measures of the institutions, and their relations with the public. Some States have noted the digital challenges brought by this crisis, and a few mentioned the risks of sales of museums collections or permanent closures as a result of the crisis. A quarter of States, however, did not express concern. Member States were also largely aware of the impact of closures and drops in attendance on the surrounding communities, on wage cuts and job losses (one third of responses), and overall on all jobs linked to the tourism sector and heritage-related activities, which are all suffering from the crisis in the long term.

In addition to these threats, which are largely economic in nature, museums are concerned about their role in society, as they are aware of changes, particularly in the context of equal rights, social justice and climate change. Museums, through all their activities, are key actors for fully engaging societies to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

The role of the public authorities in supporting, guiding and financing museums is crucial.

In this context, UNESCO's role is more than ever to support Member States in developing the most appropriate measures in favour of the museum sector, in particular through capacity development, taking into account the social role of museums and digital development.

These actions are in line with UNESCO's mandate for the protection of cultural heritage, education, the fight against the digital divide and the combat against the illicit trafficking of cultural property. UNESCO is a platform for dialogue and international cooperation for the entire cultural sector and the international community, aiming to protect museums, identify their needs and prepare their future. Its role in defining standards and recommending good practices aims to disseminate in all regions of the world, and particularly in those where the museum network is still fragile, the knowledge acquired by these institutions founded on the notion of transmission and services to the public. Finally, museums must occupy a central place within the cultural policies that the Member States have adopted, so that they can ensure the protection and the transmission of heritage and the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, and benefit from public funding that enables them to fulfil their functions.

UNESCO

Museums around the world in the face of COVID- In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, culture is currently experiencing an unprecedented crisis and museums are paying a heavy price. This is why UNESCO has been stepping up its efforts since the beginning of the crisis in 2020 to assess the impact of the crisis, launch joint reflections and coordinated initiatives to help museums and the cultural sector through this difficult period. In this regard, UNESCO has:

-brought together more than 130 Ministers of Culture for an online meeting in April 2020 to discuss actions to support the cultural sector and co-organized several debates with museum institutions around the world to provide a space for debate to cultural professionals and institutions, to imagine together how to better protect museums in the future:

• with Ibermuseos (Brazil), three Resiliart debates were organized, "Museums in times of pandemic -innovation and perspectives" (May 2020), "Museums and their audiences in times of crisis" (June 2020) and "Reaffirming the social role of museums in times of crisis" (July 2020);

• with the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum , India, a webinar, "What museums Post Pandemic?" (June 2020);

• with ICCROM, a webinar, " Museums after the Pandemic "(July 2020);

• in the framework of ResiliArt Lebanon, "Museums and art galleries for the return of cultural life in Beirut" (September 2020);

• the UNESCO online debate with 12 museum directors "Reflections on the future of museums " (March 2021).

-assisted Member States, such as Croatia in March 2020, together with ICCROM and ICOM, to organize online capacity-building workshops for museum directors to help them deal with the double disasters of the earthquake and the COVID-19 crisis. -published in May 2020 a report entitled Museums around the world in the face of the COVID-19.This report, carried out with the support of UNESCO Field Offices, presented statistics on the number of museums in the world and highlighted the following elements:

• almost 90% of museums worldwide were closed during the first months of the pandemic,

• the museum sector reacted by developing new means for remaining connected to the public, particularly by increasing its online offers, often in an innovative way,

• however, the digital divide remains significant, as already mentioned in the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation and a large number of reports.

-published a practical guide in December 2020, Culture in Crisis: Policy Guide for a Resilient Creative Sector, which highlights emergency measures that have proven to be effective and beneficial, including some for museums, and offers practical advice to help policy makers position the cultural and creative industries in economic and social recovery plans.

This present updated report is part of UNESCO's ongoing effort to protect, promote and assist museums. Its objective is to take stock of the situation, fifteen months after the beginning of the pandemic, as regards the impacts of the health crisis on museum institutions around the world. The museum sector has undergone radical transformations, it is however not yet possible to anticipate the full consequences. However, it can be estimated, as stated in reports by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Network of European Museum Organizations (NEMO) or the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), that a certain number of institutions may have to close their doors.

This report is based on an online questionnaire carried out in March 2021 among UNESCO's Member States. It aims at specifying the constraints museums faced during the lockdown period, the difficulties they encountered during the year 2020, in particular following the decrease in their attendance, as well as of their budget. The survey focused on the results related to the activity of national museums, but it quickly became apparent that the measures and affecting the latter were largely passed on to the entire museum network.

This report was produced in conjunction with UNESCO Field Offices. It was completed by responses gathered on the difficulties museums faced in carrying out their activities during the pandemic, as well as the good practices they implemented 3 It also provides the opportunity to refine the estimation of the number of museums in the world, based on the contribution of Member States. According to this first survey, nearly 90% of the institutions, i.e. more than 85,000 museums worldwide, had been forced to close their doors for a time. This first observation, as well as the information concerning the very important online presence of museums, highlighted the role of museums during the pandemic, seeking to maintain contact with the public as best as possible, both through their websites and social networks. These statistics have also made it possible to evaluate the expected impact of museum closures both in terms of attendance and operating budget. It is for this reason in particular that it was decided in this new report to survey the Member States in order to obtain more detailed information on the situation facing museums throughout 2020 and the first months of 2021.

UNESCO

In order to optimize the number of responses, the requests for information focused on the museums most directly associated with the policies of Member States, i.e. national museums.

A question was asked as to whether the measures adopted for these institutions have also been extended to all museums, which is largely the case (see below). A first set of questions was related to the year 2020, the first year fully associated with the COVID-19 crisis, another set of questions concerned 2021. Questions were also asked about the future of museums, in order to specify the threats to these institutions as well as those for surrounding communities. A total of 87 UNESCO Member States from all geographical regions responded to the survey, thus providing a fairly comprehensive picture of the situation worldwide (the survey methodology is presented in Annexes 1 and 2).

Fig.1. Density of the museum network, 2021

The responses from Member States have made it possible to refine the statistics on the number of museums throughout the world provided in the 2020 report. By compiling the answers presented in this survey with those of previous analyses, it seems possible to estimate III the number of museums at approximately 104,000 institutions (the details of this estimation are presented in Annex 3). These statistics confirm the uneven distribution of museums around the world, as highlighted in the first report, and consequently the inequalities in terms of access to culture.

It should be emphasized that this is only an estimate, based on statistics drawn up according to sometimes varying criteria by Member States. As long as different counting methods are used, the number of museums cannot be accurately calculated.

III This estimate includes the United States of America and Israel as the objective of the study was to have a global view of the museum sector.

Museums in 2020

In 2020, a total of 72 Member States (out of 87 responding), i.e. 83% of the sample, took measures to close their national museums, either totally and strictly or partially (for a more limited number of days, or with some flexibility). The estimates of the first report are corroborated here, showing an almost total closure of the museum network throughout the world in 2020, yet for a limited time.

indeed, closures have been relatively limited. However, many other States were affected not only by a first wave of the pandemic between March and May 2020, but also by a second or even third wave that hit several regions, including Europe, North America and Latin America, leading to further museum closures. Some states have experienced additional outbreaks of the virus. About a third of the Member States closed their museums for one to three months. In contrast, a very large number of other states, in particular in Europe and Latin America, have closed museums for periods ranging from four to eight months, and in some cases up to ten months, in 2020. On average, taking into account the measures mentioned by the 87 States that replied, museums remained closed for 155 days in 2020, i.e. slightly over five months (States that did not close their national museum were not included in the average).

The average weighted by the number of museums in each state gives a slightly lower result (148 days of closure).

Number of days of closure for national museums in 2020

Fig.2. Number of days of museums closure in 2020

The first impact of the closure of museums includes the drop in attendance. It was rightly assumed that all closed museums would experience such a decrease, but this has also affected institutions that have remained open or have reopened their doors, due to the drastic drop in international tourism. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), destinations worldwide experienced 1 billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in the previous year, an overall decrease of 74% compared to 2019 5 . On average, taking into account the statistics given by the States that answered this question, one could estimate that national museums, and probably all museums, seems to have experienced a drop of 70% of their visitor attendance during the year 2020 [START_REF]Population data: World Bank 2018 data (except Niue and Palestine)[END_REF] . Health measures taken by States have also often prohibited school visits and guided tours, while measures limiting the number of visitors were put in place. The statistics presented by the Member States on the level of attendance at national museums illustrate these difficulties.

The financial consequences for the museum sector are considerable. The impact on museum revenues shows these significant decreases, when the latter depends on the price of admission paid by visitors, but also on partnership actions or the organization of events (most of which had to be cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic). Member States that were able to provide this estimate often report decreases of more than 50% of the budget, with many institutions reporting revenues that are 60-80% lower than for 2019. On average, taking into account the measures mentioned by the 52 States that answered this question, (national) museums have lost between 40% and 60% of their budget in 2020, compared to 2019 . However, this statistic is only an estimate and does not take into account the great heterogeneity of the museum network and the differences between public and private museums.

Decrease in revenue for national museums between 2019 and 2020

Fig.3. Effects of the pandemic on museum revenues and attendance

National museums in 2021

Museums in the majority of States were able to remain open in 2021. Based on their responses, less than half (43%) of the institutions have still experienced a period of closure early this year. As is well known, some regions of the world have managed to control or even eliminate the risks associated with the pandemic, while others have suffered the arrival of a second or even third wave of the virus, particularly because of its mutations. In any case, cultural tourism, as well as transport, have experienced a considerable slowdown throughout the world, with major repercussions for museums, even for those that have reopened their doors. It is highly likely that overall statistics on museum attendance and revenue will remain similar to those presented for 2020.

National museums closed in 2021 (as of March 2021)

Measures taken

Number of countries

States

II. MUSEUM ACTIVITIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS

The Museums report published in May 2020 described all the measures taken by the institutions to adapt to this new situation during the lockdown period, particularly by enhancing their investments in digital technologies. This dynamic activity, analyzed immediately in this first report, has been the subject of a number of subsequent analyses by the scientific and professional community, which are also summarized here.

The impact of COVID-19 on education

"Today there are programs that have been developed, with online sessions in Arabic, there are a number of programs on heritage, on conservation, educational programs for young professionals all of which are now online."

Barbara Helwing, Director of the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Germany)

The responses provided by UNESCO's Field Offices show the considerable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the activities of museums, starting with education, which is at the heart of UNESCO's mandate. Among the Member States that replied to this question, Mozambique points out that it is not so much a question of school education but, more generally, of awakening to civic life and of learning about the importance of preserving cultural heritage. Cabo-Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, like many other Member States, mention the disruption of educational activities, particularly when the target groups are children and teenagers. Cameroon reports specify awareness-raising measures for school officials to improve the flow of visitors while respecting barrier measures. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay recall, however, that while the closure of the museums has had a profound effect on educational activities, all day-to-day activities, from conservation to the development of exhibitions, including the security of collections and research, were affected as well. The museum is not simply a place of exhibition and education: even without visitors, it is bustling with activity (research, conservation, organization, communication), and it is this interaction that has partially slowed down, due to remote work and measures taken to protect staff. This has not prevented museums, such as those in Japan and Uruguay, from using this difficult context to develop projects to document this historical moment, collecting objects and testimonies related to the pandemic.

For many States, educational activities represent, along with visits, the main source of visitors to their national as well as local museums. However, in response to these difficulties, many museums have developed new types of mediation tools for children and families that can be used at home. This is all the more important for States with a still fragile museum network, where the culture of museum visits is not yet really established, as Eritrea underlined. The aim of museums is to instill in children the pleasure of discovery through school visits, but also to parents who accompany them on these outings. The closure of museums greatly endangers these practices. Comoros emphasize the loss of this fundamental right to learn as a result of the closures. This problem, as Mozambique points out, is all the more glaring when coupled with the digital divide that is observed throughout the world, where collections have not been digitized and online education is almost impossible. The implementation of a digital policy is based on a global reflection that takes into account at the same time internet access, the digitization of collections (itself based on the inventory of the collections), a minimal IT infrastructure (photography, scanners, computers), and above all, a staff with the necessary skills and time to carry out these tasks. As noted in previous reports, the all-important collection inventory issues have not been resolved for all institutions, and few museums have staff dedicated to the digital strategy of their institution. This was again mentioned by Member States, which also reported, like Kenya, on their efforts to improve virtual visits by digitizing more exhibitions.

Comoros also offered training during the pandemic in computerization, database creation and digitization of collections.

The museum community has widely reported, through scientific publications, on the efforts of some institutions in the digital field. The first articles published during the pandemic, from 2020 onwards, referring to the actions of museums are both prescriptive and descriptive.

A number of publications have been produced on the main types of response favored by museums. The most visible activities are certainly those related to education: many authors emphasize the opportunity seized by museums to develop new types of learning experiences or reflections on social issues 7 . Two elements also emerge fairly quickly: the question of collecting, on the one hand, in order to document this period, which the museums consider to be historic and which most are certain will leave a lasting impression 8 ; and the question of reopening, on the other hand, in order to consider and then present the measures to be taken to reopen the museums in complete safety for their visitors and staff after the lockdown periods [START_REF] Grant C | Re-Opening after COVID-19 in New Zealand[END_REF] .

However, the digital issue has generated the greatest number of scientific analyses. The first articles on this subject appeared at the end of 2020, aiming to evaluate the activities of institutions in this field. In this way, the investment of Italian museums is analyzed based on its 100 most frequented museums, through the real-time observation of their activity on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Although the online activity of these institutions has often doubled in comparison with previous activity, it appears that the interactions generated with the public remain very brief, compared to the possibilities of the in situ museum visit [START_REF] Burke | Museums at Home: Digital Initiatives in Response to COVID-19[END_REF] . The development of virtual museums, as well as that of online videos or podcasts, has been the subject of sometimes critical analysis, with some researchers believing that they merely replicate, most often, the experience in situ, without really taking into account all the new possibilities offered by information and communication technologies [START_REF] Agostino | Italian state museums during the COVID-19 crisis: from onsite closure to online openness[END_REF] . Overall, the digital offer thus appears to be essentially a communication medium, aimed at presenting the museums' activities, as well as its "backstage", but intended for audiences already familiar with the institution. As one author points out, digital technology can reinforce exclusion and risks creating second-class audiences, fostering ghettos and cultural deserts, rather than the other way around, since only those who have already frequented museums seem to be using virtual visits [START_REF] Lopez Rodriguez | Museums of Scarcity and Art Deserts[END_REF] .

It is in this context that the Member States often underlined the importance of reaching out to new audiences and, through schools, to future generations. While audiences seeking to learn have clearly benefited from the large number of online programmes, outreach activities appear less present in the eyes of the researchers [START_REF] Lopez | Museums of Scarcity and Art Deserts[END_REF] . Moreover, it appears that although the online offer was abundant, questions on difficult subjects or heritage linked to painful episodes (armed conflicts, terrorism) were generally not explored by these means, perhaps in order to contribute to resilience with regard to the current situation, which in very distressing [START_REF] Burke | Museums at Home: Digital Initiatives in Response to COVID-19[END_REF] .

The social role of museums

"The museum is important in its role of social cohesion, sense of citizenship and belonging. This crisis may mean that museums will no longer be considered, will perhaps be less important, because priorities will undoubtedly lie elsewhere. Everything possible must be done to ensure that museums do not die."

Anne-Marie Maila Afeiche, Director General of the National Council of Museums of Lebanon (Lebanon) [START_REF]Quote from a debate organized by UNESCO, ResiliArt Lebanon under the theme: Museums and art galleries for the return to cultural life in Beirut[END_REF] The text of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections strongly emphasizes the social role that museums play for communities. This role is not simply a matter of education, which is a central aspect, but of all the links that museums build with surrounding communities, and in particular their efforts to integrate and include the most vulnerable groups in society, as well as their efforts in favour of social justice and equality of all citizens, regardless of their gender, or social and cultural affiliation.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, museum professionals and researchers have reacted, not only by implementing the activities already presented in the first report (use of available digital means, activities on social networks, educational activities), but also by questioning the consequences of the pandemic and the resulting future. It is a question of "thinking" the virus and the epidemic, of considering the action but also the impact, and the future of museums in this perspective. Almost a dozen special issues of professional or scientific journals have been dedicated to the phenomenon, including in La Lettre de l'OCIM, Museum & Society, University museums and collections, Museum Worlds, etc. [START_REF] West | Museums in the Time of Covid-19: voices from the field[END_REF] . The question of the role of the museum, in a context marked by decolonization and postcolonial thinking, has been widely addressed in these various articles. This observation is largely reflected in the concerns that Member States have expressed about the links between museums and their communities (see below).

This is a long-standing social trend, which has led to the recent publication of reports on social inclusion issues, with the aim of encouraging museums to develop new, more inclusive approaches to their audiences [START_REF] Consulting | Audiences and Inclusion: A primer for cultivating more inclusive attitudes among the public[END_REF] . The American Black Lives Matter movement, which began in the United States, had a worldwide impact in 2020, questioning society, but also leading some museums to question the role they can play in this respect [START_REF] Crooke | Communities, Change and the COVID-19 Crisis[END_REF] . As Deborah Lynn Mack, Director of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian (Washington D.C.), remarked during the debate organized by UNESCO in March 2021 on the situation of museums in the world, it is necessary to recognize the existence of a second pandemic, which is grafted onto the first, and which concerns the consequences of racism. Museums, as spaces for education but also for dialogue, critical analysis and reflection, can play a central role in society to respond to this worrying situation.

Cooperation and the role of associations

"The pandemic has shown us that there is no better time in history to work together."

Juliana Restrepo, Director of the National Museum of Colombia (Colombia)

The world of museums is not only made up of isolated institutions: it constitutes a vast network of collaborations but also of mutual aid, to which the museum associations bear witness to through the quality of their activities. In May 2020, UNESCO and ICOM coordinated their efforts to publish two complementary reports, respectively for UNESCO, the Museums around the World in the Face of COVID-19 report and for ICOM: Museums, Museum Professionals and COVID-19 (May 2020) and Museums, Museum Professionals and COVID-19: Follow-up Survey (November 2020) [START_REF]Museum Professionals and Covid-19[END_REF] . The Network of European Museum Organizations (NEMO) has also published two reports in 2020 and 21 [START_REF] Nemo | Survey on the impact of the COVID-19 situation on museums in Europe[END_REF] . For its part, the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) presented its national study on the impact of COVID-19 on its museums in June 2020 [START_REF] Aam | National Survey of Covid-19 Impact on United States museums[END_REF] . Several national or regional associations have also published documents on this subject: Colombia published a similar report in November 2020 [START_REF]Survey "Museums and the Pandemic" of the Ministry of Culture and the National Museum, among 153 Colombian museums[END_REF] , as did the Museum Association of the Caribbean and New Zealand [START_REF]Museums Aotaroa, Museums in the Time of Coronavirus[END_REF] .

Because of the crisis and the drastic decrease in both the number of visitors and the revenue they bring, museums have felt the need to seek support outside the market: the fundamental role of the public authorities, on the one hand, and that of the inhabitants of the territories in which they are located, on the other. The notion of a link with the public thus emerged strongly -this is the whole question of the social role of museums, mentioned above -as evoked by the responses relating to the concerns for the future (see below). The pandemic has also highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperation with other museums in order to consider collective solutions. It is in this context that the work of professional associations, many of which are UNESCO's institutional partners, has been crucial.

The first of these, ICOM, through its network of over 130 national committees, has played a significant role in developing materials and guidelines to ensure the safety and preservation of collections during periods of confinement, and then the safety of the audiences when they reopen, how to better reach audiences at a distance and support community resilience. NEMO has played, at the European level, a similar role, both in providing information to museums and in establishing contact with the European Union. An online map of the situation of European museums is regularly kept up to date, while the national responses of European countries to the crisis are circulated to all members (contributions from Poland, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Norway, Netherlands, Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, Finland, etc.). In France, OCIM (Office for Cooperation and Information between Museums), published a special issue on COVID-19, conducted several webinars and provided a digital monitoring on the subject. The British Museums Association has developed similar actions, but also a crowdfunding campaign for the association's institutional members.

The American Alliance of Museums has been equally active in disseminating information on the management of the crisis. In the particular context of the Black Lives Matter social movement, a great deal of material has been produced to strengthen museum measures for diversity, equity and accessibility (both physical and social) to culture. The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) also presented extensive documentation on collections management, including issues of cleaning, funding, and contingency planning.

III. PUBLIC MEASURES IN SUPPORT OF MUSEUMS

"Governments should all feel responsible for supporting culture."

Barbara Helwing, Director of the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Germany)

In 2020, the reactions of Member States have been accompanied, in terms of culture, science and education, by UNESCO, in order to prepare the resilience and recovery of these sectors. UNESCO immediately mobilized, bringing together over 130 Ministers of Culture in April 2020 to take stock of the situation on a global scale. The Organization has also launched numerous initiatives to implement crisis and post-crisis solutions for this key sector (ResiliArt;

Culture & COVID-19 : Impact and Response Tracker) but also by proposing ways of exploring heritage online (and in particular World Heritage sites), or ways of sharing heritage online (#livingheritage). Interactive maps on the repercussions of COVID-19 on the education system and World Heritage sites have been drawn up, as well as numerous guides and documents aimed at developing the digitization of heritage, presenting all the measures that can be taken by Member States in the field of culture, and relaying good practices 24 . For the first time in its history, the G20, which met in November 2020 in Saudi Arabia, also put culture on the agenda by discussing the important role of this sector and the impact of the pandemic on the creative economy.

Strengthening protection plans and security protocols

For museums, the issue of security is complex in two respects, as it involves both ensuring the security of the public and professionals, as well as that of the collections, which is one of the major risks identified by several Member States [START_REF] Fry | Preventive Conservation Consultant, Collection Care Guidance for Museums and Historic Properties during the Covid-19[END_REF] .

At the national level, the authorities concerned in the Member States have taken care to support the museums for which they are responsible and have taken measures during the periods of confinement and deconfinement, as in the case of New Zealand 26 , Mauritius, Côte d'Ivoire or Paraguay. Many departments, such as the Instituto Brasileiro de Museus (IBRAM), have drafted documents to prepare the museums for the reopening. The British government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has also published a study on the impact of the virus, and presented, through a specific bulletin (Coronavirus bulletin), the rules in force, the funds that can be released to help museums, and good practices for reopening. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in Washington, D.C. has also developed similar measures. Argentina, through the Museos abiertos al cielo plan, has developed an initiative to open museum gardens to the public and develop outdoor activities.

At the international level, UNESCO and its technical partners support museums in their efforts to update emergency prepardness plans for the event of any emergency or disaster, on the one hand, and to put in place health protocols to ensure the safe reception of the public [START_REF]Practical guidelines for monitoring the safety and security conditions of collections during a lockdown[END_REF] , on the other. The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) has developed a large number of resources concerning safety of personnel at heritage sites or institutions, the definition of tools to identify risks, or ways of ensuring the continuity of museum work, while relaying other documents (for example the Practical guidelines for monitoring the safety and security conditions of collections during a lockdown [START_REF]Ensuring the security of cultural heritage during containment: a challenge for museum professionals and police services (interpol.int)[END_REF] , developed by the International Committee of the Blue Shield).

The role of public authorities in financing museums

Not all museums, including national museums, benefit from the same support and assistance from Member States. According to the data provided by the latter, the level of public subsidies can vary from less than 20% to more than 90%. The intervention of public authorities is generally significant. More than a third of the Member States that replied mention support of over 90%, and more than half of the national museums receive, according to the same sources, support of more than 80% from the public authorities. These subsidies generally make it possible to support all the items (staff, general maintenance, scientific activities, communication, etc.) related to the activities of the museums, although in some cases the public investment is more focused for personnel costs. The COVID-19 crisis has led to very different reactions from Member States in terms of funding. Confronted with the lack of resources caused by the disappearance of their profitmaking activities, museums depend much more heavily on public support. For about a quarter of the Member States that replied to this question, subsidies remained stable, and in a quarter of cases they increased, sometimes significantly (over 20%). However, for half of the national institutions, these grants have decreased, in some cases substantially. In addition to the decline in the tourist industry and in the number of visitors to museums, there is the difficulty of a reduction in public subsidies. International action, at the level of UNESCO, and national action, at the level of Member States, is vital for museums. The measures that are taken for all cultural organizations, and in particular museums, must be linked both to the protection against the pandemic and to the security of collections. In the absence of visitors who can contribute to the financing of the institutions, Member States also play a crucial role in the financing of museums and, in most cases, in their survival. The stakes are high, as these institutions not only work for today's society, but also preserve the memory of past generations, in order to pass it on to the future ones.

Public subsidies to national museums

Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Public Subsidies

IV. PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

"Our museums will continue to explore and combine online and offline activities, because we also know that it is important to humanize the contact and there is always this mission to promote education and teaching." A large number of States envisaged a particularly difficult but temporarily limited situation during the spring 2020 crisis. Fifteen months after the appearance of COVID-19, the new episodes of re-confinement, the scale of the crisis, as well as the mutations of the virus, lead to increased uncertainty about the overall consequences of the crisis on health, education or the world economy and, more specifically, on the medium-term future of museums.

Xudong

A difficult context

The issue of threats, not only to museums but also to the surrounding communities, has been raised to the Member States in the context of this report. While a quarter of the latter do not see any particular threats to these institutions, the other three quarters consider that there are risks to their development. Among the detailed answers given by the Member States, a number of distinctive features allow certain recurring concerns to emerge 29 . The issue of the general organization of the museum and, in particular, that of the security of the collections and their conservation, appeared to be one of the most important in the eyes of the Member States -the closure of borders leads to a lack of specific equipment for the museums, notes Burkina Faso. The lockdown measures have led to an additional risk to the collections themselves, which several Member States have mentioned. To prevent these dangers, Uzbekistan has developed cooperation with the British Museum to combat theft and illicit trafficking. Of course, the loss of revenue is seen as a major risk by many States, and may affect the overall organization of museums. The same applies to the decline in visitors, which is the raison d'être of museums for many States, particularly in Small Island Developing States. Colombia mentions the fear of a permanent closure of some institutions, or of being forced to sell part of the collections. Museums in the Cook Islands, for example, must learn to think "out of the box" in a radically different way in order to generate revenue. The digital challenge is also a source of concern, as many institutions do not always have the infrastructure to adequately meet the new needs of visitors. The impact of the crisis on surrounding communities is equally important, although one third of the Member States do not share this view. More than a third of the States mention the reduction in salary and the loss of jobs for a large number of professionals who were involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in the museum economy as a whole: many institutions rely on a large number of self-employed workers, particularly for reception and mediation tasks. Many craftsmen who work for museums (production, scenography, repairs, etc.) have also seen their income collapse. The observation is necessarily similar for the entire tourism industry directly associated with the museum sector. Some Member States also mention the fundamental social role played by museums in communities and in the context of school visits. The Dominican Republic describes in particular the public's sense of frustration with the closure of museums and the type of cultural experience they offer. However, as Switzerland notes, it is too early to present a detailed response on the impact of the pandemic. These concerns largely corroborate previous surveys of museum professionals, particularly in economic terms. In regions where museums are largely funded by the market and philanthropy, such as the United States or United Kingdom, job losses have been rapid and particularly significant [START_REF]National Snapshot of COVID-19 Impact on United States Museums[END_REF] . When endowments and philanthropy emerge as the main sources of income, as the American Association of Art Museum Directors points out, museums have a fragility that is undermined during difficult periods like this [START_REF] Sweeney | Ithaka S+R Art Museum Director Survey[END_REF] .

Threats to museums

Impact of the crisis on surrounding communities

The economic crisis and job losses, however, conceal other issues related to the social role of museums. Widely highlighted in recent years -notably in the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums, they have never appeared more central, especially in the context of anti-racism movements [START_REF] Crooke | Communities, Change and the COVID-19 Crisis[END_REF] . While many researchers and professionals consider these issues to be crucial, others emphasize the urgency of taking action against global issues such as global warming: would this difficult context not constitute an opportunity to take real action in order to prepare for the global crisis that awaits us, ask researcher Robert Janes and the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice (Canada) [START_REF] Janes R | Museums in perilous times[END_REF] .

The concerns for museums mentioned by the representatives of the Member States, resonate with and echo an older context. This is reflected in a number of important reports that were conceived prior to the pandemic but published during this period. The digital issue is one of the major trends whose influence is transforming the museum and the public's relationship with it. With this in mind, NEMO carried out a survey of European museums to find out how far they had progressed in this area [START_REF]Final report, Digitisation and IPR in European museums[END_REF] . Similarly, issues of social inclusion and accessibility are a major challenge in many parts of the world. This is demonstrated by the cycle of online conferences prepared by the trio of Presidencies of the Council of the European Union on the social responsibilities of museums, but also by the work carried out by the American Alliance of museums on the same questions [START_REF]Museums and Social responsibility, Values revisited[END_REF] . Museums also have a central role to play in sustainable development issues [START_REF] Mcghie | Museums and the Sustainable Development Goals: a howto guide for museums, galleries, the cultural sector and their partners[END_REF] , both through their concrete actions in running the museum and through their exhibitions and educational or participatory activities, in order to envision the future for the generations to come.

An exercise of foresight

The reports and debates organized or produced by UNESCO, with the participation of museum professionals, clearly show the important role that the latter attach to foresight. That said, the very different situations of museums, depending on their status, funding, geographical location and access to technology or information, illustrate that there is no single solution.

The issue of the future and the evolution of the sector is thus a primary concern for museums across the world. The foresight exercise, which aims to think of plausible scenarios based on the study of trends (economic, social, demographic, political, climatic, etc.), has already been envisaged on many occasions by heritage professionals 37 . The COVID-19 crisis has thus given rise to several reports seeking to define the potential evolution of the society in the years to come [START_REF] Kasper | An event or an era? Resources for social sector decisionmaking in the context of covid-19[END_REF] . These reports mention in particular the possible continuation of the social transformation, based on social justice and inclusion, while underlining the development of digital technology, but also the risks of disintegration of the social system and the traditionel modes of socialising.

In this context, it is worth mentioning the work of the Center for the Future of Museums, which was set up in 2008 within the American Alliance of Museums and publishes an annual report on trends in the museum world, Trends Watch. In 2020, the Centre published a document explaining the scenario method so that museums can better plan their response to the COVID-19 crisis 39 . The latest Trends Watch, published in 2021, is based on the health situation, of course, but also on other trends mentioned by the Member States in their replies. While questions of communication technology are not forgotten, nor the adaptation of educational measures to the new situation, it is probably more broadly those of the inequality of resources and the distribution of power that appear at the heart of the analysis and concerns of museums Such an exercise needs to be put into perspective with the challenges defined by the leaders of states and governments in the framework of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, defined for 2030, constitute a reference program for all UNESCO Member States. Of course, the fourth goal, "Ensuring inclusive and equal quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all", as well as the Sustainable Development Goal 11 Target 4, "Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage", are closely linked to UNESCO's mandate in the field of museums. However, museums are equally important stakeholders in the other Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those dealing with discrimination, poverty and inequality, climate change, as well as the fight for gender equality, sustainable development, peace and justice 40 . What the COVID-19 crisis has shown, beyond the difficulties inherent in the organization and financing of museums, is their major role in the search for social links and cooperation, as well as working with the communities. These efforts are a remarkable illustration of the role of these institutions, as defined in the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation on Museums.

The COVID-19 crisis thus forces us to rethink the museum after the pandemic. It also leads us to consider the role of the public authorities and, more generally, that of UNESCO in this context. This questioning invites a re-examination of the projects already mentioned by Member States in the Report on the Implementation of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation on Museums and Collections, published in 2019. In the light of the pandemic, as we confront major global challenges, the consultation and planning bodies are of cardinal importance. UNESCO plays a central role in assisting Member States in their efforts to preserve movable heritage and museums and to build the capacity of its professionals. The Organization is also an important platform for dialogue to foster exchange, disseminate good practices and communicate the most efficient measures for the best development of the museum world. This role is a crucial issue, in the context of the pandemic, of course, but even more in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

CONCLUSION

"It is important to keep in mind what we have thought during the past months. Because sooner or later we will be dragged by the new normality and it will be easy to forget those fantastic ideas that we had during the lockdown. Let's make the most of these reflections and put them at work together in the near future.

Antonio Saborit, Director of the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)

Museums are at the same time depositories of collections that they preserve and pass on to future generations, places of memory and research, as well as spaces of exhibition and communication, of sharing and exchange. As part of society, they play a fundamental role in improving the quality of life of the community, in the attractiveness of the regions, but also in support of inclusion and participation of all in society. Their situation, following the COVID-19 pandemic, remains a concern in all regions of the world.

The survey of UNESCO Member States on the situation of museums around the world in the context of the pandemic has highlighted a number of elements of particular importance to the museum world, which are summarized here.

A sector hit hard by the health crisis

The crisis has affected the entire museum sector, both in 2020 and 2021. Almost all institutions, even when they were not closed, have witnessed their attendance plummet (70% on average), due to changes in visiting practices, as well as those, notably, linked to the drastic decrease in international tourism (-74% in 2020). Museums have experienced very significant budget cuts, and while some States have been able to partially compensate for these cuts by increasing subsidies, many museums have also faced decreases in subsidies.

The important place that the museum sector has taken in national cultural policies over the decade could be jeopardized if urgent policies to support this sector are not adopted by States.

There are significant concerns in the museum sector, particularly with regard to these budgetary restrictions, but also with regard to the security of collections. The crisis has undermined a number of heritage preservation measures (reserve management, preventive conservation), while lockdown measures have sometimes been conducive to theft, a fear for many institutions around the world. Of course, these concerns also relate to the transformations in visiting practices, and in particular the need to further develop policies for digitization and dissemination of knowledge and participation through the Internet. Some States are concerned about the very survival of the institutions and the risk of the dispersal of their heritage.

For the public, this period risks increasing inequalities in access to culture and the diversity of cultural expressions. Indeed, the measures severely limit the public's ability to enjoy cultural property and services in their diversity. These inequalities are all the more acute for vulnerable groups who are most affected by the digital divide -such as Africa and Small Island Developing States, millions of women and indigenous peoples -and who may therefore find it even more difficult to access culture.

Museums have also been able to measure the fundamental role they play in communities, in terms of knowledge, education and personal development, but also through their sometimes very significant contribution to the creative economy, at the local or national level. Many seasonal or one-off jobs have been lost, while the cultural tourism industries (hotels, restaurants, shops) have been particularly affected, causing serious difficulties for the inhabitants of the area where the institutions are located.

Museums, an asset for societies and their development

Museums were able to show, through their actions, the links that connect them with surrounding communities. They play an essential social role as a focus for community life, a forum for discussion and reflection, and a place of emancipation. The museums have also been able to see the importance of the links between them and the driving role of the professional associations, which have played a particularly important role in informing, representing, training, exchanging and sharing. In the area of strengthening international cooperation and partnerships among museums, UNESCO and its partners will be able to make a greater difference to development and rehabilitation of museums. The same applies to the mastery of new technologies and means of communication, which are more necessary than ever both for inventories and for the dissemination of cultural content enabling contact to be maintained with the public.

Museums, as agents of social inclusion, education and empowerment, but also as economic actors, are essential to States and to the communities in which they are located. They are a fundamental investment for the future, actively participating in the economy of creativity.

Through their view of heritage and history, they are a vital part of understanding the present and preparing the future. They are actively involved in solutions to emerge from crises, while being closely involved in many of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Support for this sector, especially in times of crisis, is an important investment for development, both in terms of education and culture, and in terms of the economy and social life. The report confirms the unequal distribution and resources available to museums around the world, particularly in Africa and Small Island Developing States. It is therefore more necessary than ever to pay special attention to them. The challenge is twofold: to support museum institutions and cultural professionals, and to promote access to culture for all. These challenges can only be met within the framework of ambitious cultural policies aimed at helping museum institutions overcome this crisis and to protect and improve the status of cultural sector professionals and collections.

Supporting the development of the museum network

The crisis of COVID-19 highlights the important role of public authorities in the development of museum institutions, which is central to the development and transmission of knowledge in our society. The 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning Museums already underlined the major challenges of digital technology, tourism development and the creative economy in general, but also the social role of museums. The crisis has profoundly disrupted the economy, but reaffirmed the importance of these issues as well. It has revealed the digital divide within the museum network and the fragility of the sector in a number of regions of the world. The role of the public authorities in supporting, guiding and financing museums is crucial: a large number of States have clearly understood that, in times of crisis, far from being a burden, museums are essential common assets, sources of resilience that contribute to the development of solutions, and that their subsidies should therefore be increased in order to make up for the shortfalls in the budgets caused by the drop in attendance. Such practices should be encouraged.

In this context, UNESCO makes the following recommendations, which are structured around three priority areas:

1) There is a need to provide platforms for the museum sector to continue the dialogue on the impacts of COVID-19 and to ensure cooperation between museums at an international level. UNESCO will support Member States and museum institutions in their reflections on the challenges and the future of museums by providing a common framework of reference and by fostering international cooperation. As for the activities implemented these last months, UNESCO will continue to animate the global conversation through the organization of debates, awareness-raising activities, high visibility projects in the form of sponsorship or co-design of emblematic exhibitions on themes that are at the heart of UNESCO's mandate. Such work will be coordinated and carried out in close collaboration with the two UNESCO Chairs on Museums IV , National Commissions for UNESCO, Field Offices and our network of partner organizations, such as the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Network of European Museum Organizations or the American Alliance of Museums.

2) Public authorities must act to financially support museums in this difficult period and prepare for the future. UNESCO calls for funding for museums within the framework of ambitious cultural policies, in the name of the protection of heritage and the diversity of cultural expressions. One year into the pandemic, the situation facing museums around the world is worrying. Access to culture and museums is a key element for the future of humanity. As common goods and sources of resilience, museums are essential for the functioning of our societies. The museum network differs greatly between Member States (Fig. 6), some states have several thousand museums throughout the country (Germany, Brazil, the Russian Federation, France, Japan, etc.), others have no museums at all; almost half of the States have an estimated number of museums of less than fifty institutions and only about fifteen States, i.e. less than 8% of the 193 Member States, have a network of more than 1000 museums.

3) Member

Number of museums by country

Fig.4. Number of museums per million inhabitants

The inequalities between States in terms of the density of the museum network are even more pronounced. The density of the museum network varies from one to one hundredfold. The densest networks (more than 50 museums per million inhabitants) are almost exclusively in Western Europe (it concerns 24 States). Half of the States (89) have a network of less than 1 to 5 museums per million inhabitants, while 9 States have no museum. At this level, we find most of the African countries, Small Island Developping States, but also a large number of Latin American and Asian states (heavily populated).

Density of the museum network

  UNESCO has always put museums at the heart of its mission. The 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections recalls their major role in and for societies, as places for dialogue and sharing as well as their research and educational function, contributing to development, quality of life, inclusion and social cohesion.

	19, 2021
	INTRODUCTION
	"Museums create links, they are bridges and this is
	very important. The museum does not belong to us,
	it belongs to the former and the future generations,
	we just keep it."
	Mikhail Piotrovskiy, General Director of the State
	Hermitage Museum (Russian Federation) II

2021 I. UPDATE ON THE SITUATION FACING MUSEUMS

  Museums around the world in the face of COVID-19,

	"COVID has done something incredible, creating
	the notion of social distancing. It has fragmented
	our societies, and in the process of healing we must
	defragment our societies, and create a new humanity."
	Hamady Bocoum, Director of the Museum of Black
	Civilizations (Senegal)
	The results published in May 2020 presented the various closure measures taken between
	December 2019 and May 2020 to control or prevent the pandemic. According to this analysis,
	the global findings were as follows

4 : Number of countries with closure measures Situation in May 2020 Measures taken Number of countries States

	No			13	Antigua and Barbuda, Cook Islands,
					Djibouti, Dominica, Marshall Islands,
					Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, St-Kitts-and-
					Nevis,	St-Vincent-and-the-Grenadines,
					Palau, South Sudan, Tuvalu
	Minor	measures	11	Benin, Belarus, Burundi, Chad, Guinea,
	(restrictions)	or	no		Liberia, Maldives, Niue, Somalia, Sweden,
	measures				Tajikistan
	Partial measures (closure	14	Albania, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso,
	of part of the museums		Ethiopia, Japan, Malaysia, Mali, Niger,
	network)				Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
					United Republic of Tanzania, United
					States of America
	Measures for the entire	157	All other countries
	network of museums (at
	least the public network)

Number of days Number of countries States

	0	14	Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Burkina Faso,
			Botswana, Cameroon, Marshall Islands, Malawi,
			Mali, Palau, Paraguay, Samoa, Sweden, Tonga,
			United Republic of Tanzania
	1-30	5	China, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Libya, Zambia
	31-90	22	Andorra, Angola, Cabo Verde, Croatia, Estonia,
			Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Mauritius, Republic
			of Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, North
			Macedonia, Portugal, Rwanda, Serbia, Seychelles,
			Singapore, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Turkey
	91-120	8	Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Hungary, Kenya, Pakistan,
			Switzerland, Uzbekistan
	121-180	10	Armenia, Colombia, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
			Ghana, Lesotho, Lithuania, Madagascar, Uganda
	181-240	13	Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile,
			Comoros, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Guinea,
			Nepal, Ukraine, United Kingdom
	241-365	13	Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Honduras,
			Iraq, Liberia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Palestine,
			Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo

  Museums have not stopped at these observations to think of new modes of communication, in parallel with digital technology. Some States, such as Gambia, have used local television stations to present aspects of the collections during the lockdown period.

	The growing role of digital technology
	"I hate this pandemic: it has been a terrible year,
	there has been very few good upsides, but having
	all these digital materials available to support the
	professional development of teachers is one of the
	good outcomes. We can reach many more teachers
	now and we will keep doing that."
	Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria & Albert
	Museum (United Kingdom)

The role of the digital sphere is presented, in the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections as a significant challenge for museums worldwide. The report on the implementation of the Recommendation, published in 2019, as well as Museums around the world in the face of the COVID-19 published in 2020, referred to the importance of digital technology in the context of the health crisis and lockdown measures. Both reports also presented the difficulties caused by the digital divide between different regions, especially in those where the museum network is still fragile, in Africa and in Small Island Developing States.

  Wang, Director of the Palace Museum (China)

	"But what is most important is to reach out to our
	partners and audiences in the country to see what
	we can do better to help them, to empower them,
	whether they are teachers, people in need of care at
	home, the elderly, children..."
	Deborah Lynn Mack, Director of the National Museum
	of African Art, Smithsonian Institution (U.S.A)

The current health crisis leads museums and Member States to reflect on the future development of this situation. Foresight is central to UNESCO's actions in culture, education and science development. This principle lies at the heart of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections but also more broadly in the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

States should be accompanied in the development of the most appropriate measures in

  favor of the museum sector, particularly in terms of capacity

development, the consideration of the social role of museums and digital development, targeting

  all regions of the world, and especially those where the museum network is still fragile.Museums have a strong interest in developing extensive digital projects integrating a diverse range of activities, in the field of education, research, training, and also with a view to establish and increase inventories, which are still too limited at present. With the support of its technical partners, UNESCO could coordinate such an effort at the global level with a priority for museums in Africa and Small Island Developing States. Such an ambition would make it possible to respond to several urgent challenges, in the field of education, the social sphere, the fight against the digital divide and the combat against illicit trafficking of cultural property. The pandemic has made it difficult to maintain numerous measures related to the security and preservation of collections, raising concerns from Member States. Such a project would offer a concrete response to the concerns of Member States while promoting access to culture for all and cultural diversity. This report is based on data collected by UNESCO and more specifically its Culture Sector from UNESCO Member States in the framework of the follow-up of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections. The questionnaire was launched on February 26, 2021, the last responses were integrated until March 29. The online questionnaire was sent to the Member States and is attached in Annex 2. In total, the collective work has made it possible to gather information on 87 Member States, i.e. 45% of all 193 Member States of UNESCO (to which estimates on Israel and the United States have been added, as the objective of the study was to have a global view of the museum sector). Taking into account the size of the museum network in the Member States which replied to the survey, the replies concern 52,362 museums (according to the statistics presented in Annex 3), compared with 70,515 museums in the 193 Member States (excluding the United States of America and Israel), i.e. almost 75% of the museum network in all the Member States. The estimate of the number of museums is based on the data used (1) in the Report on the implementation of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation on Museums and Collections (figures collected by the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), based on the Museums of the World directory published by Saur, and figures from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in Washington, D.C., for American museums). (2) These statistics have been amended from those provided by the 56 Member States for the monitoring of the Recommendation (in 2019), (3) by data provided in the first UNESCO survey of museums and COVID, conducted in April 2020 by 45 UNESCO field offices, and (4) by the present survey of Member States in March 2021.The current estimate I of the number of museums in the world is at

	-UNESCO, Culture 2030 Indicators, Paris, UNESCO, 2019, https://unesdoc.unesco. org/ark:/48223/pf0000371562 ANNEX 1: DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY ANNEX 3: NUMBER OF MUSEUMS IN THE WORLD
		-UNESCO, Culture in crisis: Policy guide for a resilient creative sector, Paris, UNESCO,
		2020.	https://fr.unesco.org/creativity/publications/culture-crise-	guide-de-
		politiques-pour-secteur
		-UNESCO, Museums around the world in the face of COVID-19, Paris, UNESCO, May
		2020. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373530
		-UNESCO, Report on the implementation of the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation
		on Museums & Collections, Paris, UNESCO, 2019. https://unesdoc.unesco. org/
		ark:/48223/pf0000371549
	-WALLACE FOUNDATION, AEA CONSULTING, Navigating Uncertain Times. A Three additional questions were also relayed by UNESCO Field Offices:
		Scenario Planning Toolkit for the Arts & Culture Sector, October 2020. https://www. -How has COVID-19 affected museums in the implementation of their activities, wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Navigating-Uncertain-Times-especially in the educational field? Lit-Review.pdf -Have any museum associations published specific documents related to these issues
		(online symposia, training sessions, reports), especially on the future of museums?
		-Have any museums developed good practices during the COVID-19 period that
		other museums could learn from?
	Responses submitted by questionnaire
	References
	1	"Floyd Case Forces Arts Groups to Enter the Fray", The New York Times, 7 June 2020.
	2	The data collection methodology is presented in Annex 1.
	3	A correction was made for Singapore, which reported network-wide measurements
	4	Source: UNWTO, "2020: Worst Year in Tourism History with 1 Billion Fewer International
		Arrivals"	https://www.unwto.org/news/2020-worst-year-in-tourism-history-with-1-
		billion-fewer-international-arrivals
	5	The statistical mean is 68%. However, this statistic is only a very relative estimate, as
		it does not take into account the differences in the density of the museum network
		between UNESCO Member States. The weighted average (based on the number of
		museums per State) shows a decrease of 61% of visitors.
	6	The statistical mean is 57%. This statistic is, however, only a very relative estimate,
		assuming that the budgetary reductions are identical within the museum network
		of each State (local, regional or national museums) and not taking into account the
		differences in the density of the museum network between the Member States. The
		weighted average (based on the number of museums per State) shows a 20% drop
		in attendance, as a number of States with a large number of museums (such as Brazil
		or France) reported limited decreases. It is important to understand, in any case, that
		there are significant disparities in this respect between the States
	.

IV UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development Anant National University, India ; UNESCO Chair for the study of museum diversity and its evolution, University Paris Sorbonne Nouvelle, France

aournd 104,000. Estimated number of museums in the world, 2021

  It should be emphasized that this is only an estimate, based on statistics drawn up according to sometimes varying criteria by Member States. As long as different counting methods are used, the number of museums cannot be accurately calculated.

	Region	Estimated number of	% world
		museums
	I. Western Europe and Others	30,628	29.5 %
	II. Eastern Europe	11,366	11.0 %
	III. Latin America and the Caribbean	8,716	8.4%
	IV. Asia and Pacific	18,180	17.5 %
	Va. Africa	868	0.8 %
	Vb. Arab States	757	0.7 %
	Israël	226	0.2%
	United States of America	33,082	31.9%
	Total Non-Members	33,308	32.1%
	Total	103,823	100%

I

This estimate includes the United States of America and Israel as the objective of the study was to have a global view of the museum sector.

  This first observation immediately highlights two of UNESCO's priorities: Africa and the Small Island Developping States. Most of the States from these regions have a very limited number of museums (about 10), or even none at all; 30% of the Member States have a network of 1 to 10 museums, or no museums at all. This is even more striking when the number of museums is related to the population of the States. The following table shows the number of museums per million inhabitants for each Member State. This statistic favors certain very small States (a State of 10,000 inhabitants with a single museum has a coefficient of 100; a State of 20 million inhabitants with 1,000 museums has a coefficient of 50), which led to a distinction being made initially between States with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants and other States.

	Number of museums	Number of countries	States* II

Density of the museum network Museums per mil- lion inhabitants Number of countries States* III Number of museums per country

		Number of museums per country Number of museums per country
	Museums per mil-lion inhabitants Country Country Country	Number of countries UNESCO Electoral Group UNESCO Electoral Group UNESCO Electoral Group		Info. Source Info. Source Info. Source	States* III museums N° of Population (millions) N° of museums Population (millions) N° of museums Population (millions)	Museums/ mil. inhab. Museums/ mil. inhab. Museums/ mil. inhab.
	More (states with under than 100 100,000 inhabitants) Andorra Antigua and Kyrgyzstan More than 100 (States with over 100,000 inhabitants) Austria Belgium Barbuda Argentina Lao People's Democratic Republic Canada Bahamas Malaysia Cyprus Barbados Maldives Denmark Belize Marshall Islands Finland Bolivia (Plurinational (Federated States State of) Micronesia	6 I III IV I I III IV I III IV I III IV I III IV I III IV	4 4 3 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 4 1 4 1 1 4 2 3 1	Andorra, Cook Islands, Monaco, Niue, Palau, San 19 0,077 246,8 2 0,096 20,8 67 6,316 10,6 Marino 776 8,847 87,7 912 11,422 1183 44,495 12 7,062 1,7 26,6 79,8 2245 37,058 9 0,386 23,3 236 31,529 7,5 60,6 180 1,189 7 0,287 24,4 5 0,516 9,7 151,4 359 5,797 10 0,383 26,1 1 0,058 17,2 61,9 326 5,518 59,1 120 11,353 10,6 0 0,113 0
	France Brazil of)	I III	1 4		4811 3906	66,987 209,469	71,8 18,6
	Germany Chile Mongolia	I III IV	4 4 3		6741 322 342	82,927 18,729 3,17	81,3 17,2 107,9
	Greece Colombia Myanmar	I III IV	1 4 2		487 468 104	10,727 49,649 53,708	45,4 9,4 1,9
	Iceland Costa Rica Nauru	I III IV	4 4 1		50 47 0	0,353 4,999 0,013	141,6 9,4 0
	Ireland Cuba Nepal	I III IV	1 3 4		319 338 35	4,853 11,338 28,088	65,7 29,8 1,2
	Italy Dominica New Zealand	I III IV	1 1 1		3195 0 236	60,431 0,071 4,886	52,9 0 48,3
	Luxembourg Dominican Republic Niue	I III IV	1 4 1		42 14 1	0,608 10,627 0,0016	69,1 1,3 625
	Malta Ecuador Pakistan	I III IV	4 4 4		27 183 46	0,484 17,084 212,215	55,8 10,7 0,2
	Monaco El Salvador Palau	I III IV	1 1 4		10 12 3	0,039 6,42 0,017	256,4 1,9 176,5
	Netherlands Grenada Papua New Guinea	I III IV	2 1 1		688 1 8	17,231 0,111 8,606	39,9 9 0,9
	Norway Guatemala Philippines	I III IV	1 1 1		609 19 192	5,314 17,247 106,652	114,6 1,1 1,8
	Portugal Guyana Republic of Korea	I III IV	4 1 2		662 1 1102	10,281 0,779 51,635	64,4 1,3 21,3
	San Marino Haiti Samoa	I III IV	1 3 4		11 8 3	0,034 11,124 0,196	323,5 0,7 15,3
	Spain Honduras Singapore	I III IV	2 4 4		1732 20 63	46,723 9,588 5,78	37,1 2,1 10,9
	Sweden Jamaica Solomon Islands	I III IV	4 1 1		1600 16 3	10,183 2,935 0,653	157,1 5,5 4,6
	Switzerland Mexico Sri Lanka	I III IV	4 2 3		1129 1320 40	8,517 126,191 21,67	132,6 10,5 1,8
	Turkey Nicaragua Thailand	I III IV	4 1 4		515 38 1526	82,32 6,466 69,429	6,3 5,9 22
	United Kingdom of Panama Timor-Leste Great Britain and Paraguay Tonga Northern Ireland Total Group I Peru Turkmenistan	I III IV III IV I III IV	1 2 3 4 4 1 1		3183 19 4 147 4 30628 227 16	66,489 4,177 1,268 6,956 0,103 544,409 31,989 5,851	47,9 3,2 4,5 21,1 38,8 56,3 7,1 2,7

© Musée du Palais

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

UNESCO would like to thank Member States, their delegations and ministries, institutions and museums concerned for their detailed and meticulous responses that served as the basis for the preparation of this report.

We would also like to thank Mr. François Mairesse, holder of the UNESCO Chair for the Study of Museum Diversity and its Evolution, at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, for his valuable expertise and contribution to the drafting of this report.

We are grateful to the museums that provided the images for this report as a courtesy : Museum of Black Civilizations (Dakar, Senegal), Victoria & Albert Museum (London, United Kingdom), The Palace Museum (Beijing, China), State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation), National Museum of Colombia (Bogotá, Colombia) This report was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Zhi Zheng Museum of Art (Shenzhen, China) .

The Head of Conservation and Restoration of the in Bogotá, during the mounting of the temporary art exhibition Cien por ocho (100x8

Questionnaire for the attention of the Member States

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on museums all around the world, which is likely to last. The full and partial closure of museums, in particular, has had serious financial, cultural and socio-economic consequences: it has led to a reduction in the maintenance and conservation of collections, but also to an increase in threats from illicit trafficking.

The extent of these consequences for museums still needs to be assessed. This survey therefore aims to gain a better understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on museums. Once all answers have been collected and analyzed, the results will allow UNESCO to update its Report on "Museums around the world in the face of COVID-19", and formulate an appropriate response to this exceptional crisis.

To this end, we would appreciate if you could fill in the questionnaire by 15 March 2021 and send it back to the following address: sec.mus@unesco.org.

Should you require any further information or technical support to complete the survey, the UNESCO Secretariat is at your disposal: sec.mus@unesco.org. We thank you in advance for your support.

The UNESCO Section of Movable Heritage and Museums.