UWC EXECUTIVE
BOARD MEETS
The
UWC Executive Board met on Saturday, February 5, 2005 at its Toronto headquarters. In addition to
hearing reports from Executive Committee members, the following matters were
taken up:
-
the
recently concluded presidential elections in Ukraine and the participation in that
process by the Diaspora, in particular in terms of voter turnout abroad and
international monitoring;
-
future
activity of UWC councils and commissions in effectuating the UWC’s global
mission;
-
the
venue of the next UWC Board of Directors’ meeting;
-
participation
of the UWC in the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council(UWCC) and the IV Forum
scheduled for August 2005;
-
issues
of denaturalization and deportation involving Ukrainians, particularly in the United States and Canada;
-
financial
issues – providing for UWC’s financial stability; organizational visits to Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay as well as Slovakia.
The
following action was taken:
-
to
convene a joint session of the UWC and World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s
Organizations (WFUWO) delegations to the United Nations in New York to
deliberate joint strategy and cooperation;
-
to
modernize the UWC’s Toronto office equipment;
-
to
pursue the Prof. Hrycak- UPA controversy through the World Scholarly Council;
-
to
schedule a formal visit from the UWC to Patriarch Lubomyr of the Ukrainian
Catholic Church, Metropolitan Constantine of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in
America, the Primate to be designated by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in
Canada and Pastor Iwaskiw of the Ukrainian Evangelical churches;
-
to
intensify efforts at reactivating the Council on Cultural Affairs;
-
to
publish a compendium of educational institutions and Ukrainian studies in the
Diaspora, to provide English language material for use by Ukraine’s Ministry for Foreign
Affairs and diplomatic missions and to coordinate scholarly publications
globally through alternate channels rather than self-publishing;
-
to
hold a social service round table during the upcoming Board of Directors meeting;
-
to
put together a directory of Ukrainian language schools in the Diaspora;
-
to
hold the next Board of Directors meeting in Kharkiv on the eve of the IV Forum;
-
to
delegate UWC Secretary General to the February 2005 UWCC meeting in Kyiv to
outline our participation and delineate our expectations in connection with the
IV Forum, in particular, minimal intrusion from the government side;
-
to
arrange meetings for a UWC delegation in August in Ukraine with Ukraine’s
President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister for humanitarian affairs and
social policy, Minister for education, Minister for cultural affairs, Minister
for foreign affairs and Chair of Parliament;
-
to
deal with denaturalization and deportation matters on an individual and
personal level;
-
to
re-establish an Endowment Fund committee consisting of Jurij Darewych, Askold
S. Lozynskyj, Eugene Czolij, Maksym Maslej, Stach Haba, Oksana Wynnyckyj and
Olga Danylak with each member of the committee contributing at least 1,000 $CAN
and personally soliciting relatives, friends and acquaintances;
-
to
schedule the UWC’s presidents trip to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay for this spring and a visit to Slovakia this summer.
UWC HOLDS ELECTION 2004 ROUNDTABLE IN TORONTO: RECOGNIZES EFFORTS OF
THE UKRAINIAN CONGRESS COMMITTEE OF AMERICA AND THE CANADIAN
UKRAINIAN CONGRESS
Following
its Executive Board meeting, on Saturday, February 5, 2005, the UWC held a
round table discussion for the Toronto Ukrainian community entitled:
Presidential Elections in Ukraine: Diaspora Participation – What’s next. The
discussion was moderated by the UWC Secretary General and featured observations
by the UWC President and First Vice President as well as the President of the
UCCA, Michael Sawkiw, Jr. and President of the UCC, Orysia Sushko. Both the
UCCA and the UCC were recognized for outstanding contributions aiding the
democratic electoral process in Ukraine. Some significant statistics on this subject: the Diaspora
fielded some 2600 international observers with the largest contingent from the United States – 859, followed by Romania – 680, Moldova – 354 and Canada – 326. Even very distant
Australia fielded 20 international
observers from its Diaspora. Voter participation in the last election tripled
over that in 2002. Some 103,000 Ukrainian citizens abroad participated with the
largest turnout 23,389 in Moldova and 11,859 in the United States. Of the Moldova voters 92% voted for Yanukovich and
of the U.S. voters 98% voted for
Yushchenko. In total 59.52% of the Diaspora voters went for Yushchenko and
38.50 for Yanukovich. The Moldova example is striking since there were eight polling
precincts in Moldova, but seven additional
were opened in Transdniester through the joint efforts of Ukraine’s Ministry for Foreign
Affairs (MFA) and the Central Election Commission (CEC). Interestingly, in all
of Canada there were only two
polling stations with Toronto being the furthest west. The voter turnout in Canada was larger than in the
past, but nevertheless very low, only 3,261. While Canada is huge, Transdniester, at its
widest point is 20 kilometers. However, given the anticipated vote for
Yanukovich, Ukraine’s MFA and the CEC chaired for two rounds by Sergei Kivalov
and Yuri Danylevsky, charged with the “zakordonnyj okruh,” opened additional polling
precincts in Transdniester and limited voter lists in the United States,
Canada, Italy etc. to enable only minimal participation. Both Kivalov and
Danylevsky were not еlected
following the November 21 runoff but the number and location of polling
precincts remained fixed. Thus voter participation in the western part of the
Diaspora could have been ten times greater, but that would have meant an even
larger number for Yushchenko.
On
the subject of what to expect next, the consensus was that the “orange
revolution” was tremendous, but the implementation of its ideals must be
pursued intensely yet deliberately. The thrust of what can be expected was
stated by President Yushchenko in his inaugural address and Prime Minister
Tymoshenko in her presentation to the Verkhovna Rada: a transparent, moral,
anti-corruption agenda with the focus on European integration.
UWC BOARD OF
DIRECTORS TO MEET IN KHARKIV IN AUGUST
As noted above the UWC Board of Directors will convene in Kharkiv most likely
on August
18-19, 2005.
The proposed venue is intended to allow for eastern and western participation
as well as to commence a decade long commemoration of repressions perpetrated against
the Ukrainian people beginning with the trial in Kharkiv 1929-30 of the
Association for the Liberation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Youth Association,
followed by the “shattered rebirth”, the Great Famine and the period referred
to as Yezhovschyna. The UWC feels that the national awakening of Eastern Ukraine depends largely on
Kharkiv as the center of Ukrainian intellectual development in the Soviet era.
Details will be provided in subsequent newsletters.
Світовий Конгрес Українців 
