2010 UWC Annual General Meeting

2010 UWC Annual General Meeting



The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) held its 2010 Annual General Meeting on August 22-23 in Przemysl, Poland, a city where Ukrainians have lived since ancestral times. It was the first such meeting held on European soil outside of Ukraine.

More than 60 representatives of Ukrainian communities from around the world took part in the meeting. Participants also included the Mayor of Przemysl Robert Choma, the Consul Charge d’Affaires of Ukraine to Poland Andriy Sybiha, former UWC President Askold Lozynskyj, the Chair of the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council (UVKR) Dmytro Pavlychko, Honorary President of the Olena Teliha Ukrainian Women’s Association Olha Kobets, the Consul General of Ukraine in Lublin Oleh Horbenko, Fr. Yevhen Popovych of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Fr. Yuri Mokrauz of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Director of the International Institute of Education, Culture and Ties with the Diaspora (MIOK) Iryna Klyuchkovska.

The first day of the meeting began with Divine Liturgy celebrated in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held in the premises of the Narodny Dim (literally “Peoples’ Home”) that was built by the Ukrainian community of Przemysl in 1904 and unfairly expropriated during the Wisla Operation following the Second World War. In his opening remarks, UWC President Eugene Czolij said that the city of Przemysl was specifically chosen as the location for the 2010 AGM so that the UWC may better acquaint itself with the Ukrainian community in Poland while building a stronger working relationship and to speed up the return of the Narodny Dim to the Association of Ukrainians in Poland (ZUP) along with commensurate compensation and funding for the building’s repair.

AGM participants honoured the memories of UWC directors who passed away in the last year, namely Secretary General Victor Pedenko, Financial Officer William Sametz and Sports Committee Chair Stan Haba with prayers led by Fathers Popovych and Mokrauz.

During his remarks, the Mayor of Przemysl Robert Choma told the gathering that the Narodny Dim will be returned to Ukrainian community ownership in the coming weeks.

A letter of greeting from Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych was read by the Consul Charge d’Affaires of Ukraine to Poland Andriy Sybiha. Opening remarks were also delivered by ZUP President Petro Tyma, UVKR Chair Dmytro Pavlychko, MIOK Director Iryna Klyuchkovska and the President of ZUP’s Przemysl branch Maria Tucka.

UWC President Eugene Czolij provided an overview of UWC activities throughout the past year. He reported on: the expansion of partnership activities between UWC and Ukraine, including the signing of three Memoranda on Cooperation with Ukraine’s previous government and their implementation; UWC’s participation in Ukrainian parliamentary hearings concerning Ukrainians abroad; improving ties with UWC member organizations and Ukrainian communities around the globe; activities of UWC councils and committees, particularly those concerned with the development of youth organizations and the defense of human and civil rights of Ukrainians; coordination of global projects and the issues raised with President Viktor Yanukovych in the Memorandum on major issues that pertain to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora.

Progress reports were delivered during working sessions by the members of the Executive Committee and the chairs of UWC councils and committees; statutory issues were also addressed.

Several areas of concern were highlighted during the roundtable session entitled “Major issues pertaining to Ukraine and UWC relations with Ukraine”. Panelists noted that the UWC has yet to receive a response from Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych on the issues raised in the Memorandum. Participants resolved that UWC will continue reacting to all encroachments upon Ukraine’s territory, monitoring all reports on violations of human and national rights and cooperating with all non-governmental organizations and national democratic forces to defend Ukraine’s independence and democratic achievements.

The roundtable session was followed by presentations of UWC’s new website and Ruslan Telipsky’s photo exhibit “Monumental Shevchenkiana”.

Also on August 22, a UWC delegation laid wreaths to the memorial markers honoring the soldiers of the Ukrainian Galician Army (UHA) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) located in the Pikulychi village military cemetery.

Two roundtable sessions were held on August 23. The first, entitled “Coordination of activities between UWC and member organizations”, addressed the need to improve cooperation between UWC and member organizations for international initiatives such as the “Candle of Prayer” Holodomor awareness campaign launched in June of this year, the annual commemoration of International Human Rights Day (December 10) and International Native Language Day (February 21 ). Also discussed was the possibility of UWC creating a registry of Ukrainian monuments located in various countries around the world and the opening of a UWC branch office in Kyiv.

During the roundtable entitled “Contemporary state of the Ukrainian community in Poland” the President of the Association of Ukrainians in Poland (ZUP) provided an overview of the activities of the organization and Ukrainian community in Poland and thanked UWC for its support in resolving a number of important issues for Ukrainians in Poland, including the preparation of a submission to the European Court in Strasbourg concerning the Wisla Operation and the campaign to return the Narodny Dim to the Association of Ukrainians in Poland.

National and international UWC member organizations delivered oral and written activity reports from 17 countries with organized Ukrainian communities including Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Spain, United Kingdom and United States of America.

A communications plan was presented to the delegates by Bohdan Muzychka that would promote broadcast coverage of UWC and Diaspora communities’ activities on Ukrainian television networks.

UWC President Eugene Czolij, ZUP President Petro Tyma and the President of ZUP’s Przemysl branch Maria Tucka met with the Mayor of Przemysl Robert Choma on August 23. The UWC President thanked Mr. Choma for his participation in the UWC AGM and his guarantees for the return of the Narodny Dim to the Ukrainian community. He also raised the issues of the one hundred year anniversary of the Markian Shashkevych Ukrainian school in the city scheduled to be commemorated in 2011 and the restoration of street names in Przemysl previously named in honour of Taras Shevchenko, Markian Shashkevych and Ulyana Kravchenko. The Mayor of Przemysl reiterated his promise concerning the Narodny Dim. He also said that the municipal government intends to assist with the funding of repairs of the century-old school in preparation for its anniversary and that, in the future, new streets in Przemysl will be named in honour of prominent Ukrainians.

In his concluding remarks, UWC President Eugene Czolij noted the success of the 2010 AGM and thanked the Association of Ukrainians in Poland, especially the President of ZUP’s Przemysl branch Maria Tucka, for helping organize the event, and called upon meeting participants to continue their active cooperation in the future.

Additional Ukrainian language information on the 2010 Annual General Meeting can be found on UWC’s website