UCCA executive board discusses Ukraine-related activity (10/21/01)

UCCA executive board discusses Ukraine-related activity

by Tamara Gallo
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

NEW YORK - Members of the executive board of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) met on Saturday, October 13, to confer on several important topics following a three-month summer vacation.

Originally scheduled for Saturday, September 15, the meeting was postponed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City. UCCA President Michael Sawkiw Jr. began the deliberations by asking executive board members to stand for a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, as well as two long-time UCCA activists who have recently died, Prof. Petro Goy of New York and Dr. Myroslav Charkewycz of Chicago.

First on the agenda was a discussion about the parliamentary elections in Ukraine scheduled for March 2002 and how the UCCA should be involved. The UCCA president reminded executive board members that since 1994 the UCCA has conducted several civic education projects in Ukraine, primarily concentrating its efforts on the youngest generation of Ukraine's electorate - the 18-35 age group. Mr. Sawkiw also expressed a desire for the UCCA to open a permanent office in Kyiv that would monitor future UCCA projects and would serve as an information source for activities occurring in Ukraine.

The discussion further centered on the role of the media in Ukraine during the parliamentary campaign and their objectivity. Motions were offered to enlist the support of the Ukrainian American community in purchasing subscriptions to the "non-oligarchic" Ukrainian newspaper Shlakh Peremohy for their friends and family members in Ukraine, as well as to underline to the U.S. government the necessity of supporting free and independent media through various democracy-building programs in Ukraine.

The Fourth Wave of Ukrainian immigrants to the United States also was a focus of attention. In recent months the UCCA has renovated the first floor of its building in New York to be used as a resource for programs aimed at teaching English as a second language (ESL), legal services, a job and housing bank, etc. Other proposals included greater use of media outlets (newspapers, radio, TV and the Internet) to promote the activities of the UCCA and encourage the Fourth Wave to become involved in the organized Ukrainian American community.

Mr. Sawkiw reminded members of the Executive Board that next year the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), the full-time Washington bureau of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. Meeting participants discussed plans to organize nationwide fund-raisers for the UNIS office and to hold a cocktail reception in Washington to celebrate the achievements of UNIS.

An important element of UNIS activity is mobilization of community support. Thus, in addition to fund-raisers, traveling roundtable discussions will be held in various cities to raise the community's awareness of the role of UNIS' in Washington. Furthermore, a mortgage-burning initiative will have as its goal raising funds to pay off the newly purchased UNIS building in Washington.

A brief overviewwas given of the Third World Forum of Ukrainians and celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Ukrainian Independence Day, both in Ukraine and in the United States. The UCCA president thanked the many executive board members who traveled to Ukraine for the World Forum of Ukrainians, and for Independence Day festivities. The UCCA President also praised the Ukrainian community for its diligent efforts in organizing festivals, banquets and public ceremonies marking a decade of Ukraine's restored independence.

In attendance at the executive board meeting was Oles Yanchuk, producer of the UCCA co-sponsored film "The Undefeated." Mr. Yanchuk provided his reflections on film premieres in Ukraine, the United States and at various international film festivals, where it was greeted with much interest

Mr. Sawkiw reported on the film's premiere in Washington on October 11, which was attended by many dignitaries, including Ukraine's Consul General in Washington Valentyn Nalyvaichenko; Minister Counselor of the Ukrainian Embassy Volodymyr Yatsinkivskyi, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Green Miller.

The UCCA president also proposed the formation of a Film Committee to explore possibilities for future film projects. Elected as members of the new committee were: Mr. Sawkiw, Laryssa Kyj, Askold Lozynskyj, Tamara Gallo, Prof. Taras Hunczak, Myroslaw Shmigel, Ivan Kobasa, Kvitka Semanyshyn and Prof. Wolodymyr Stojko.

Under the rubric of miscellaneous items on the agenda, Prof. Hunczak mentioned the need for the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America to investigate further the proposed introduction in Ukrainian schools of computers, whose operating systems are be in the Russian language. If needed, letters should be sent by the UCCA to both the Microsoft Corp. and the Ministry of Education in Kyiv.

The UCCA's executive vice-president, Ms. Kyj, also mentioned the annual commemoration of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide, which will be held on Saturday, November 17, at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. She also pointed out the commencement of the UCCA's regional conferences - the first of which is scheduled for New Jersey on Sunday, October 14.

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