This year’s focus, highlighted by the motto My voice counts, is inclusion and the right to participate in public life. Everyone has the right to have their voice heard and to shape the community in which they live. This right to participate – join the debate, offer ideas and campaign for change – is the foundation of a democratic society.
The UWC pays tribute to all who have sacrificed their lives in defense of this fundamental right, and to all who today, in many countries around the world, steadfastly continue to defend this right of every human being as entrenched in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document in the history of human rights, was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.
The UWC is the international coordinating body for Ukrainian communities in the diaspora representing the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians. The UWC has member organizations in 33 countries and ties with Ukrainians in 14 additional countries. Founded in 1967 as a non-profit corporation, the UWC was recognized in 2003 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special consultative status.
