2003: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukraine's women arrive on international scene

The International Council of Women, the umbrella organization for National Councils of Women throughout the world, held its 30th General Assembly in Perth, Australia, on August 31 to September 9. The delegation of Ukraine consisted of six women: the president of the National Council of Ukraine, Iryna Holubieva; Minister of Family and Youth, Valentina Dovzhenko; the president of Soyuz Ukrainok of Ukraine and a national deputy in the Verkhovna Rada, Lilia Hryhorovych; and three others who came as observers. Also present were Ukrainian women from the diaspora.

One of the requirements for membership in NCWs (and by extension, in the ICW) is that member-organizations be citizens of independent nations. Thus, in 1925, at the quinquennial ICW meeting held in Washington, a question was raised about the status of Ukraine's NCW and its affiliated organizations. Ukraine's position was precarious. Its status as a nation that had been absorbed into the USSR meant that Ukraine's NCW did not meet the qualifications for membership and was not in compliance with ICW by-laws.

Ukrainian American women, who attended the meeting as members of NCW/US, were devastated. They later resolved that, since women from Ukraine could no longer represent themselves in the ICW, they would have to be represented by Ukrainian women from the diaspora. It was this resolve that led to the creation of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America. Decades later, when Ukraine proclaimed its independence and its inviolate right to sovereignty, Ukrainian women's organizations were officially recognized by the ICW, and the National Council of Women of Ukraine was reborn.

During the 30th General Assembly's session in 2004 devoted to deciding the venue of the next ICW General Assembly, the minister of family and youth of Ukraine, in the name of NCW/Ukraine and the Ukrainian government, issued a formal invitation to the ICW Executive Committee and proposed that the 2006 ICW General Assembly be held in Kyiv. The invitation was enthusiastically accepted.

Iryna Kurowyckyj, the president of the UNWLA, who attended the conclave as a delegate from the NCW/U.S., noted that this was a significant moment: a mission begun so long ago had been accomplished. Ukrainian women, long oppressed and long dependent on representation by the UNWLA at such international events, were finally representing themselves. Ukraine's National Council of Women, chosen to host the 2006 ICW General Assembly, had truly arrived.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 11, 2004, No. 2, Vol. LXXII

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