The XI Ukrainian World Congress opened with President Petro Poroshenko’s welcoming remarks on Nov 25, in which Ukraine’s leader promised the delegates further Ukrainization and a unified and independent Ukrainian church.
It closed on Nov. 27, with the election of Paul Grod, who ran uncontested, as the new president of the Ukrainian World Congress for a four-year term.
The Ukrainian World Congress, held from Nov. 25-27, in Kyiv’s President Hotel, gathered more than 300 delegates from 30 countries.
The event, which takes place every five years with smaller annual and more frequent regional meetings, brings together members of the international Ukrainian community to discuss both the achievements of the Congress during the past five years, as well as expressed its vision concerning the challenges that lay ahead.
Grod, a Canadian-born investment banker, became a prominent member of the Ukrainian diaspora in 2001 when he was elected vice president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. He became the president of the organization in 2010 as well as vice president of the Ukrainian World Congress, during the IX official meeting. Grod is the founder and CEO of Rodan Energy Solutions, a Canadian company which specializes on energy efficiency.
Members of the Ukrainian diaspora, who say they represent the interests of 20 million Ukrainians living outside Ukraine globally, arrived to Kyiv a couple of days prior to the main event, to take part in the commemoration ceremony on Nov.24, dedicated to the 85th Anniversary of the Holodomor, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s genocidal starvation of at least 3.9 million Ukrainians in 1932-33.
Eugene Czolij, the former president of the Ukrainian World Congress, told the Kyiv Post that the Congress was held in late November, specifically, so that members of the community had the chance to pay their respects.
The official opening of the XI Ukrainian World Congress took place the next day, with Poroshenko thanking the Ukrainian diaspora for their support and promising further cooperation among Ukrainians across borders. The president emphasized the promotion of the Ukrainian language, saying that it is crucial for Ukraine to promote its language and culture to become a fully independent state. Additionally, the president said joining NATO and the European Union is a priority and he cited the creation of an independent Ukrainian church as an important achievement during his presidency.
“If a year ago someone would say that Ukraine would have an independent church, nobody would have believed them, nonetheless today it is an irreversible fact,” said Poroshenko, in his opening speech.
Czolij, who was the president of the Congress for the past 10 years, says that the organization took an important role in helping Ukraine in the time of need. Czolij, whose presidency ended during the event, listed key achievements of the Congress during his tenure.
“We were rather successful together with Ukrainian authorities in ensuring that US, Canada, and the European Union would renew sanctions [against Russia] every six months and have been steadfast in supporting Ukraine,” says Czolij.
In the past five years, the congress was not only vocal in promoting Ukraine’s image abroad, yet was helping on the ground as well. Czolij cites the appointment of the former head of the congress’ humanitarian mission, Ulana Suprun, as acting health minister of Ukraine, after leading a successful humanitarian drive in parts of the eastern Donbas afflicted by Russia’s war since 2014 that has killed more than 10,300 Ukrainians.
During the tenure of Czolij, the organization helped raise funds for internally displaced people, lobbied the treatment and rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers abroad and participated in multiple training sessions. The congress’ Patriot Defense Mission provided for free, with the help of NATO member states, over 21,000 first aid kits to Ukrainian soldiers.
Another key issue discussed during the Congress was the new wave of immigration. Czolij, stated that the organization is taking a proactive stance concerning the accommodation and integration of newly arrived Ukrainians. Acknowledging that the established diaspora may be somewhat detached from the newly arrived Ukrainian, “We see a strong interest among newly arrived to take part in our work,” he says.
The Ukrainian World Congress was established in 1967 in Toronto, Canada as the Congress of Free Ukrainians. The organization’s main goal was to promote Ukrainian language and culture, as well as help Ukrainians worldwide and, of course, promote an independent state that was then ruled by the Soviet Union.
After Ukraine gained its national independence in 1991, the organization fostered cooperation with the democratically elected Ukrainian government. Starting from 2003, the congress is held in Ukraine, every five years, promoting further cooperation between Ukrainians and over 20 million Ukrainians living abroad.
