1994: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Ukrainian diaspora: news worldwide (12/25/94)

1994: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukrainian diaspora: news worldwide

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), formerly the World Congress of Free Ukrainians, held the initial meeting of its new presidium in Toronto January 21-22. Chaired by UWC President Dr. Dmytro Cipywnyk, the meeting was held to map out a new direction for the organization. A chief concern that was addressed was to review past fiscal problems. Member-organizations have decided to supply the central body a skeletal budget after past fiscal irregularities. The Presidium also evaluated its role in coordinating aid to Ukraine and decided to establish accountability procedures to assure the money is spent efficiently.

The organization decided not to sanction the actions of the newly formed International Committee for Democracy and State Development in Ukraine (ICDSD). It explained that the ICDSD should work through the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Other news in the diaspora included the following.

The first preparatory meeting of the 1995 World Conference on Women was held March 2-18 at the United Nations and attended by 1,000 individuals. Notably, several Ukrainians took leadership roles at the meeting. Olga Stawnychy, a member of the New York Task Force of the Committee on the Status of Women, had an opportunity to address the body. She expressed a concern that East European women should be included at the conference. She said that these women need moral and financial assistance during the critical time of transition. She emphasized that the voices of these women must be heard. She said that it is important to speak with them and not for them.

Helen Prociuk, NGO representative to the United Nations from the World Movement of Mothers and a member of the Women's Movement on Sustainable Development and Environmental Crisis, was able to convince the caucus to include in its agenda the problem of nuclear and radioactive waste. Ms. Prociuk and Ms. Stawnychy prepared a statement on behalf of both their organizations regarding this topic.
The first-ever Congress of Nationalities of Russia took place on April 29 in Moscow. The 6 million Ukrainians living in Russia were represented by the umbrella Organization of Ukrainians of Russia (OUR). Besides Ukrainians, among the 15 ethnic minorities that sent representatives were Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Greeks, Azeris, Kazakhs, Koreans and Turks.

The one-day affair agreed to work to develop a consultative assembly of nationalities in the Russian Parliament to support ethnic culture and education.

The OUR, which is registered with the Russian government, has a quite aggressive agenda which includes: sustaining the national rebirth of Ukrainians in Russia; working for democratic values and democratic reforms; supporting reconciliation in Ukrainian-Russian relations; and cooperating with other ethnic unions.
The Ukrainian World Congress held a European Regional Conference in Warsaw, Poland, on June 18-19. Thirty-five delegates attended the gathering, led by WCU President Dmytro Cipywnyk and General Secretary Yaroslaw Sokolyk.

The main reason for the conference was to discuss the activities and problems of the Ukrainian community in Europe and to agree on cooperation in administering aid to Ukraine. Each delegation presented a detailed account of it activities. Delegations from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formally applied for membership.
An Australian member of Parliament of Ukrainian heritage was assassinated on September 5 in the country's first-ever politically motivated killing. John Newman (Naumenko) was gunned down outside his home in a drive-by shooting as his wife looked on. They had just returned from a meeting of the Labor Party, of which he was a member. Mr. Newman had recently received death threats linked to his role as a crusader for the rights of Asian minorities in Cabramatta, the area he represented.

More than 2,000 people turned out on September 9 for the slain leader's state funeral, among them Prime Minister Paul Keating.
The 12th Conference of Ukrainian Plast Organizations was held in East Hanover, N.J., on October 8-10. Delegates came from Austria, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Ukraine, the United States and Latvia. Argentina and Slovakia were represented by local Plast members. The newly elected Supreme Plast Bulava is headed by Dr. Yuriy Slusarczuk, while the Supreme Plast Council is chaired by Dr. Orest Hawryluk.

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