Ukrainian World Congress prepares for its 7th conclave (10/18/98)

Ukrainian World Congress prepares for its 7th conclave

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - Preparations for the seventh congress of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), to be held December 2-7 under the slogan "A Strong Diaspora - A Strong Nation: Rights, Justice, Dignity," were the principal topic of discussion at the UWC presidium's meeting at its headquarters here on September 18-19.

President Dr. Dmytro Cipywnyk thanked the members of the outgoing presidium for their efforts over the five-year term and discussion focused on perennial problems such as what to do with delegates from countries who have not paid their dues; minutiae of preparation for congress proceedings, such as acceptable speakers for the roundtable discussions; the status of by-laws and other committees; and a lobbying effort planned to have the United Nations adopt a convention condemning the use of famine as a weapon.

Famine condemnation

The lobbying effort's goal, as explained by Congress Organizing Committee member Christina Isajiw is to close out the UWC conclave by traveling to Canada's capital, Ottawa, for a working session with members of the diplomatic corps for countries where Ukrainians have settled.

Also planned is a meeting with officials of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs to further the famine condemnation effort. The organizers have proposed that the Canadian government sponsor a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly which would condemn the use of famine as a weapon against any individuals, groups, community or national minority.

According to the committee's report, "this proposal will be made by the [UWC] in its observance of the 65th anniversary of the Great Terror Famine in Ukraine, which Ukrainian communities are commemorating this year throughout the world."

Ms. Isajiw said representatives of Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy have been contacted, but no formal commitment has been made.

Congress agenda

Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow has been tapped as the keynote speaker at the December congress. He is a key player on the Canadian political scene at whose suggestion Ukraine was included in the upcoming "Team Canada" trip to Europe.

Also on the agenda will be panel discussions on the Ukrainian diaspora with Toronto-based sociologist Prof. Wsevolod Isajiw and Association of Ukrainians of Russia President Oleksander Rudenko-Desniak among the participants; the role of the UWC at a new stage in its development that will involve leaders of national representations from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the U.S.; the diaspora and Ukraine for which Ukrainian World Coordinating Council President Ivan Drach has been invited; contemporary Church affairs (for which proposed speakers include Dr. Frank Sysyn of the CIUS, Andrew Sorokowski of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, Andrii Kravchuk of the Sheptytsky Institute in Ottawa, and Victor Rud, former chairman of the Ukrainian American Bar Association).

UWC finances: in the red again?

UWC Chief Financial Officer William Sametz reported that delays in submission of dues by all national representations, including those of the U.S. and Canada, have led to the world umbrella organization to the brink of red ink again.

Mr. Sametz, whose austerity measures helped make the UWC solvent after extravagant spending by previous administrations, told The Ukrainian Weekly that he expected the U.S. and Canada to come through by the time of the congress, but the delays have caused "unnecessary excitement."

Dmytro Hryhorchuk, president of the World Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions, made a formal offer of $12,500 to help defray preliminary costs of the congress. A total of $140,000 has been budgeted for the events in December.

World Coordinating Council

Temperatures that had been raised by the topic of the UWC's relations with the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council (UWCC) in Ukraine appear to have been cooled, and the matter has been handed to lawyers to resolve. On August 14 Dr. Cipywnyk sent a letter to a group of jurists in North America and Europe, asking them to assist the UWC in establishing a fundamental position on the issues involving the UWC's interaction with the Ukrainian government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as the UWCC claims to be.

Dr. Cipywnyk asked the attorneys to consider four main points: the eastern diaspora's (i.e., the Ukrainian community in the Russian Federation and Central Asia) role in international Ukrainian bodies; 2) the participation in and role of the UWC in the UWCC; 3) the establishment of a new body or transformation of the existing UWCC as an institution capable of coordinating the work of Ukrainian community organizations in the diaspora with corresponding civic organizations in Ukraine and the Ukrainian government; and 4) legislation being proposed by the Ukrainian government concerning so-called "Ukrainians abroad."

The UWC president wrote that the umbrella body will "establish a special committee consisting of experienced professionals and activists of the Ukrainian community," whose coordinator and principal consultant will be Judge Bohdan Futey of the U.S. Claims Court.

UWC Vice-President Dr. Oleh Romanyshyn, a member of the congress organizing committee, also reported that the matter will be dealt with during plenary sessions and in meetings of the UWC by-laws committee.

Conference of Ukrainian Youth Organizations Chair Evhen Czolij threatened to take himself off the panels discussing ties to the UWCC because of indications the UWC had backed down on its previous hard line position vis-à-vis the UWCC, but Dr. Romanyshyn assured Mr. Czolij that there had been no change in the UWC's position.

UWC General Secretary Yaroslav Sokolyk sought to clarify his position on the UWCC by reading his recent letter to the editor sent to The Weekly, in which he described a report carried in the August 9 issue of this paper as containing "inaccuracies, contradictions and wrong statements."

Mr. Sokolyk reaffirmed his denial that there were fault lines in the UWC over the UWCC. The general secretary added, "I categorically state that I did not conduct a campaign to convince people to go to Ukraine [to attend a UWCC meeting in May], and I categorically state that I did not call the [special UWC executive] meeting of April 6."

Mr. Sokolyk contested the article's suggestion that "several" members of the UWC presidium voiced dissatisfaction with the decision to send an official UWC delegation to the UWCC meetings in question. The Toronto-based activist opined that to count the opinions of Mr. Czolij and Ukrainian Congress Committee of America President Askold Lozynsky, the two most vocal in their dissatisfaction, as that of "several" people expressing reservations was inaccurate.

Mr. Sokolyk also claimed that it would have been "contrary to logic" to attend the UWCC meeting without jurisdiction to adopt decisions on behalf of the UWC.

Oksana Sokolyk, chair of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, voiced her displeasure at having been referred to as "his wife" in the offending article. "My position on the UWCC has everything to do with being a representative of about 30,000 Ukrainian women worldwide and nothing to do with the fact that I'm a wife," Ms. Sokolyk said.

Mr. Czolij suggested that the controversy was proof that the UWC presidium should once again bar reporters from its deliberations and simply hold press conferences as deemed necessary.

Mr. Sokolyk rejected this suggestion, stating that in the past, when serving as the UWC press liaison officer, he had lobbied for community media to be given access to meetings of the presidium.

Following the meeting, the UWC general secretary told The Weekly that he would continue to insist that community media be allowed to sit in on the UWC's meetings, controversies notwithstanding.

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