After World Forum of Ukrainians, UWCC reported to be in poor financial shape (09/10/06)

After World Forum of Ukrainians, UWCC reported to be in poor financial shape

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Ukrainian World Coordinating Council (UWCC) is in bad financial shape after the fourth World Forum of Ukrainians (WFU), said Lidiya Kononko, the council's manager.

The Kyiv-based non-governmental organization that helped arrange this year's WFU is currently saddled with $16,000 in debt.

Though the Ukrainian government allocated $80,000 for the UWCC's 2006 budget, those funds were specifically earmarked for the organization's events and activities, not for structural support.

As a result, enormous phone bills and other debts are unpaid.

"There was a poor administration of costs," Ms. Kononko said of the prior staff, on which she served for nearly three months.

After the World Forum concluded on August 20, six of the 10 staff members of the UWCC's secretariat left, she said.

This year's World Forum of Ukrainians, which attracted participants from 45 countries, presented many new challenges, particularly because the Ukrainian diaspora in the West no longer provides funding, she said.

And, for the first time, the Ukrainian government decided to finance the forum through the Ministry of Culture instead of the UWCC. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also was involved.

As a result, the UWCC had to work to support the forum without adequate financing from private or government sources.

The UWCC merely acted as an organizing intermediary, she said.

One negative result was that the Ministry of Culture spent more on concerts and theater shows to entertain the guests, while the UWCC lacked the funds to conduct basic operations, Ms. Kononko said.

The Ukrainian government allocated $700,000 for this year's Forum.

The UWCC's new chair, Dmytro Pavlychko, is determined to reinvigorate the organization, she said. He is requesting a meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych so that the Ukrainian government will extend a financial lifeline to the UWCC.

"Dmytro Pavlychko has the view that there should be less singing and dancing, and more done to lift the profile of the Ukrainian diaspora as the Ukrainian people's overseas ambassadors," she noted.

In particular, the UWCC needs funds to update and operate its lackluster website, which would enable communication between widely dispersed diaspora communities.

The UWCC also needs financing in order to distribute its Visnyk publication overseas.

Leading up to the WFU, the UWCC tried raising funds from Western sources, but to no avail, Ms. Kononko said.

To cope with the government's decision to finance the World Forum through the Ministry of Culture, a coordinating council needs to be created to organize the work between the UWCC, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Kononko said.

Some aspects of the forum were poorly organized, Ms. Kononko added. As a result, many Ukrainians complained they weren't included as delegates, while international delegates abused the rules by inviting family members as delegates.

At the forum, no programs were printed detailing when, where and on which topics the 22 discussion sessions were to take place. The program also included various exhibits, as well as concerts.

The UWCC also has yet to publish the WFU's 22 sets of resolutions.

In all, 500 delegates took part in this year's forum: 150 from the Western diaspora, 150 from the Eastern diaspora, 150 Ukrainians and 50 Fourth Wave diaspora. According to various media reports, up to 3,500 delegates plus guests took part in the forum's various events.

Among the biggest changes to take place as a result of the WFU is that the UWCC's 45-member presidium has been reduced to 36 members: 12 from the Western diaspora, 12 from the Eastern diaspora and 12 from Ukraine.

Mykhailo Horyn, the UWCC's outgoing leader, was elected as its honorary chairman.

Despite the challenges facing the UWCC, the Ukrainian government has been focusing unprecedented attention on the diaspora.

Under President Viktor Yushchenko's leadership, the Ukrainian government for the first time allocated money in the national budget in support of the Ukrainian diaspora.

The 2006 budget contained $3.2 million to support diaspora communities in those countries where it's most needed. The funds were allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which distributed them to its embassies.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk has instructed Ukrainian ambassadors to actively support Ukrainian diaspora communities, and the funds typically help to support various events and festivals in those areas where they're most needed.

Vasyl Boyechko chairs the Administration on Ukrainian Diaspora Issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A new division also emerged within the Ministry of Culture. Olha Kostenko is an assistant to the minister who chairs the Administration of the Ukrainian Diaspora's Cultural Development Issues.

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