The UNWLA Scholarship Program has been supporting students in Ukraine and South America since 1967. Thousands of students have continued their middle and high school and university studies with supplies and support from over 1,000 donors over the years.

 In February 2022, for the first time in the program’s 57-year history, the UNWLA was forced to suspend payments to students in Ukraine because of russia’s full-scale invasion. However, by late March, working with our partners in Ukraine, we had devised a plan to get funding to students despite the extreme circumstances and rapidly changing situation in Ukraine.

In 2022, the UNWLA awarded 274 scholarships: 224 to students in Ukraine and 50 to students in Brazil. 

Currently, the UNWLA Scholarship Program faces multiple challenges in Ukraine, including locating students who have moved to safer locations, banks with unpredictable operating hours due to power outages or bombing, and communication channels also disrupted by power outages.

Dmytro Adamenko, Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, wrote:

“Dear Madam President and the entire community of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America!

I have been receiving your scholarship for quite some time. You helped me grow when I was graduating from high school, and you supported my admission to university. Thanks to you, not only am I succeeding in my studies, but I have also learned to believe that people are capable of doing good. It multiplies to create humanity.

You continued to support Ukrainian children and youth when we were aggressively hit by the COVID virus, you continued to show your love for us when russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. You did everything to ensure that we received scholarships so that we could continue living, studying, and appreciating every day.”

Eva Staszkiw Memorial Scholarship Fund

The U.S. welcomed Eva Staszkiw in 1910. Like many young immigrants before her, she could not get a better education, but she always valued it and understood how empowering it could be in a young person’s life. 

Eva Staszkiw was a member of UNWLA Branch 26 in Detroit. After her husband’s death, she moved to Miami and joined Branch 17. A devoted Soyuzianka and advocate for educational opportunities, Eva Staszkiw was committed to supporting those pursuing Ukrainian studies. “We desperately need them now,” she would say. “We need young educated people able to share the truth about Ukraine everywhere.” In the late 1950s, Eva Staszkiw generously supported the UNWLA Scholarship Fund. When she died, the UNWLA was honored to receive a final expression of her love for Ukraine: she donated her life savings to the UNWLA to further expand support for Ukrainian studies. In 2022 the Staszkiw Scholarship was once again offered to students studying Ukrainian culture, history, language, literature, or other academic areas related to Ukraine.