UCCA wins grant to get the vote out (01/25/98)

UCCA wins grant to get the vote out

NEW YORK - The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America Inc. was awarded a $175,461 grant on January 9 from the United States Agency for International Development through the Eurasia Foundation for its Elections '98 "Focus: Ukraine" civic education program. The program's goal is to increase the participation of Ukraine's youth in the March 1998 parliamentary elections.

Proceeds from the Eurasia grant will support town hall-style meetings with candidates in Kyiv and six cities in eastern and southern Ukraine: Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Poltava and Sumy. The grant also will support the production and airing of radio and television public service announcements on national networks and regional broadcast stations, and the publication and dissemination of a civic education brochure.

Geared toward Ukraine's politically alienated 18- to 30-year-olds, which constitute one-third of the voting population, the "Focus: Ukraine" program also includes rock concerts, a weekly voter education television program, polling and a website.

UCCA representatives are scheduled to open a Kyiv office in mid-January. While the "Focus: Ukraine" program does not support any political group or individual, recent polls indicate that Ukraine's youth will vote in the elections on the side of reform and democratization.

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