NEWSLETTER

UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS

IV FORUM

    Despite some anxiety over the current unsettlement in Ukraine, we have received confirmation that the IV Forum will proceed as scheduled. Delegates and guests are requested to arrive by August 17, 2006. The opening ceremonies will take place in the National Palace (Ukraine) on Chervonoarmijska  at 10AM on Friday, August 18, 2006. The keynote address will be delivered by the President of Ukraine.

    The government of Ukraine has assumed responsibility for housing, feeding and transporting delegates from August 17-21. Transport to Kyiv must be borne by the delegates themselves. Additionally the organizing committee has offered to transport guests from and to the airport as well as arrange for lodging and food at the guest’s expense but at the organizing committee’s cost.   The executive administration of the Forum has requested that flight arrival information for both delegates and guests be provided electronically in order to facilitate immigration, customs and transport:  pser@ua.fm

     All delegates and guests registering through the UWC have been accepted by the organizing committee and the complete list is available for review at the UWC office.

UWC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

     The UWC Board of Directors will convene at the Ukrainian Writers’ Union building on Bankivska Street in Kyiv at 10AM on Monday, August 21. We promise to conclude deliberations by 5PM on Tuesday, August 22, 2006.

     Preceding the working session at 9AM on Monday, a Requiem service will be held at the Cross of the October Palace which in Soviet times served as a torture chamber and represents the losses our nation suffered under the Soviets. The Requiem service is being organized jointly by the UWC and the Kyiv Memorial Society. It will be co-celebrated by representative of various religious denominations.

     The working session will commence with country summaries followed by council/commission reports. As noted in previous communications, country representatives are urged to submit written summaries in advance as time restraints may compel us to permit presentations only to those organizations who submitted summaries earlier. Please do not be offended if you are unable to speak if you had not complied with this request.  Lunch will be available sometime in the mid-afternoon. On Monday evening at 6PM a reception will be held.

     The next day, Tuesday will be devoted to Executive Committee reports followed by a general discussion and action on the following topics: consideration of new member applications, the 2007 budget and financing our activities, preparation for the 75th anniversary of the Great Famine, electing a By-laws commission and designating venue for the 2007 Board of Directors session and the IX Congress in 2008. A press conference on Tuesday at 11AM will break deliberations for one hour and lunch will be offered sometime in mid-afternoon.

MEMBERSHIP DUES  

     Since the Board of Directors’ annual agenda includes the adoption of a 2007 budget as well as the mutual consideration of funding our activities, our member organizations are requested to make a special effort to pay their dues prior to the meeting. In particular the Canadian Ukrainian Congress, the Ukrainian  Congress Committee of America, the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, the Association of Ukrainian Organizations in Australia and the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain which bear the lion’s share of the UWC budget are requested to account and remit their allocations. We thank you for your past support. Without you the UWC would not be able to function.

     We have issued in the past fourteen similar greetings marking Ukrainian independence with a variety of annual specificity. Ukrainians across the globe will mark this year Ukraine’s fifteenth birthday, certainly, not a milestone but still more than simply another chapter in the history of our nation’s development. Given the recent dynamic events and different perspectives regarding them, we shall refrain at this time from any particular analysis or comment. Suffice it to say that both happiness and tears have been the theme of the last fifteen years. Our people have accomplished much and been disappointed equally, if not more. Nevertheless we have persevered not only as a nation but as a nation with a state. On this momentous occasion, we send greetings to our people in Ukraine and those dispersed throughout the world, forging a viable entity commonly referred to as the Diaspora. Our work has consisted primarily of aiding our brethren in less favorable circumstances and coordinating a cultural and political position beneficial to our nation. We have attempted to meet overwhelming challenges with some success. May God’s blessing be upon us Ukrainians and may the Blessed Virgin May continue to be our source of comfort and protection.