Ukraine is once again represented on International Council of Women (08/06/00)

Ukraine is once again represented on International Council of Women

by Maria Tomorug

NEW YORK - The International Council of Women (ICW) held its 29th General Assembly on July 2-8 in Helsinki. The president of ICW, Pnina Herzog, welcomed the 250 delegates representing 35 national councils of women from around the world.

For the first time since 1925, Ukraine's National Council of Women also attended the conference. The Ukrainian delegation consisted of 10 delegates and was headed by its president, Iryna Holubieva.

In 1928 during the ICW's General Assembly held in Washington, the Ukrainian delegation was not permitted to officially participate in the conference. In fact, it lost its membership in the ICW because at that time Ukraine was no longer an independent nation. The ICW's Charter states that only national councils of independent nations may be members of the ICW. Now that Ukraine is an independent nation, the National Council of Women of Ukraine, which was organized one year ago and comprises eight women's organizations, was able to apply to the ICW to renew its membership.

After the opening ceremonies, during greetings from other organizations, Oksana Sokolyk, president of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations (WFUWO), was given the opportunity to welcome the National Council of Women of Ukraine and to thank the ICW and its president for reopening its door and its heart to sisters from Ukraine.

She welcomed the Ukrainian delegates both in English and Ukrainian saying: "The World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations is elated that, after an absence of 75 years, the National Council of Women of Ukraine is once again a member of the International Council of Women, and that it will once again work with all of us for a better world in this new millennium."

After the welcoming ceremonies of the newly affiliated national councils from Azerbaijan, Senegal, Congo, Brunei Das Salaam and Ukraine, the presidents of these councils were given an opportunity to speak for three to five minutes. Ms. Holubieva read her speech in English, thanking the ICW for returning the Ukrainian group to its historical place in the ICW and promising to work to address social issues and improve the status of women to achieve better access to health, sanitation, education, and income security for women, children and men.

During the plenary sessions the president, general secretary and the treasurer presented their reports for the last three years. The national presidents, the coordinators and advisers of the standing committees also presented detailed reports on the implementation of plans through seminars, conferences and projects. ICW representatives to United Nations agencies gave detailed reports on women's issues on the international level and presented their next challenges and goals.

The ICW General Assembly also adopted major amendments to its Constitution, which had not been changed since the organization's inception 112 years ago. A number of new resolutions were adopted, including provisions on the protection of victims of rape in time of war; ensuring that women have retirement pensions adequate to meet their needs for food, shelter, health care and self-support; the environment; biotechnologies; and on the establishment of an international convention for humanitarian aid.

The General Assembly voted in a new board, with Ms. Herzog being re-elected for a second term.

There were various social events during the conference, including the opening ceremonies at the Great Hall of the University of Helsinki, with greetings from the president of Finland, Tarja Halonen, and a musical, dance and recital program. Also on the program were a reception by the minister of health and social services; a luncheon at the City Hall sponsored by the mayor of Helsinki (who, like Finland's president, is a woman); an embassy night, when all embassies entertained delegates from their countries; a gala banquet and a Finnish evening with a fashion show at a famous Finnish stores.

Attending as observers from the Ukrainian diaspora were Mrs. Sokolyk, WFUWO president: Volodymyra Luchkiv, WFUWO vice-president; and Maria Komarnycka, former president of the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada.

From the United States came Iryna Kurowyckyj, president of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, who took part as the ICW's United Nations accredited representative in New York, and Maria Tomorug, UNWLA vice-president, who participated as a delegate from the National Council of Women of the United States.

The ICW General Assembly voted that the theme for the next three years is to be "Women and the Culture of Peace." The next General Assembly will be held in 2003 in Australia and will be hosted by the Australian National Council of Women.

| Home Page |