diff --git a/bot.py b/bot.py
index ea42767..0c5ec03 100644
--- a/bot.py
+++ b/bot.py
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ def get_db_connection():
         port=MYSQL_PORT,
         user=MYSQL_USER,
         password=MYSQL_PASSWORD,
-        database=MYSQL_DATABASE
+        database=MYSQL_DATABASE,
+        charset='utf8mb4',
+        collation='utf8mb4_unicode_ci'
     )
 
 def init_db():
@@ -46,19 +48,19 @@ def init_db():
             channel_id BIGINT,
             title VARCHAR(255),
             project VARCHAR(255),
-            status VARCHAR(32),
+            status VARCHAR(100),
             creator BIGINT,
             created_at VARCHAR(32),
             reference_message_id VARCHAR(32),
             archived BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE
-        )
+        ) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci
     ''')
     cursor.execute('''
         CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS server_settings (
             guild_id BIGINT PRIMARY KEY,
             active_channel_id BIGINT,
             archive_channel_id BIGINT
-        )
+        ) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci
     ''')
     conn.commit()
     cursor.close()