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pagan feasts but give them new meaning by using them for Christian festivals. So the old midwinter Yuletide fes tival was transformed into the birthday of Jesus Christ. Today, Ukrainians and other nationalities reserve December 25th for Christmas and continue to celebrate the Eve of Saint Nicholas by giving presents to children on December 6th. This year, wide-eyed children will once again eagerly look forward to presents, while har ried parents and teachers unite to preserve the tradi tional commemoration with school plays or visits by St. Nicholas to local churches. The struggle for Ukrainians in America to preserve “Sviatij Mykolai” while contend ing with the concept of Santa Claus is an annual one. The fact they continue the age-old tradition of honoring St. Nicholas on December 6th despite the overwhelming commercialization of ancient traditions in our sales- oriented society, is a tribute to their dedication and commitment to maintaining the links of the past for future generations. It’s a tradition worth preserving. PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN UKRAINE (PART II) by MARTHA BOHACHEVSKY CHOMIAK The isolation of Ukrainian women is also being broken by the independent role the non-governmental organizations in Ukraine are beginning to play on the overall NGO forum at the United Nations. Where pre viously the Ukrainian NGO’s were largely pro-forma participants, reflecting closely the tack of the Moscow based groups, now Ukrainian NGO’s are moving quickly into participation within the international context.7 Closer direct contact with women’s organizations that have tried to find a balance between the integration of women into the economic and political arena and the special qualities women may bring to political discourse will draw women’s organizations in Ukraine into a broader sphere of activity than that delineated by histor ical and geographical circumstances. There are about forty different women’s organiza tions, running the gamut from a very small feminist group to large, traditional Western style volunteer orga nizations. All agree on the situation of women in the country. The discrepancy between the de facto and de jure position of women is both glaring and recognized. The high level of professional education of women is offset by the low numbers of women in higher responsi ble positions. Feminization of low paying professions, a phenomenon of the Soviet period, continues. Women still constitute 38% of low paid transport workers and are engaged in heavy labor. Relatively few women are in higher administrative positions. None hold major elec tive or appointed political positions. Only 3% of the deputies in Parliament are women. The document prepared for the Parliamentary hear ings on the status of women by the Ukrainian Legal Foundation, an advisory body composed of Ukrainians and international legal experts that has been working on the drafts for the constitution of Ukraine, begins by “pointing out that the legal code of the Ukrainian state does not yet fully adhere to international standards in the sphere of human rights. Ukraine lacks a state mech anism to ensure the realization and review of enforcing the pertinent legislation. Most of the ministries and government agencies do not exercise the proper control to ensure adherence to the norms of the UN Convention (to end discrimination of women).8 The women, with the help of the legal foundation and Cl ESS advisors, wanted the hearings to be held in such a fashion that represen tatives of women’s organizations would present their recommendations to the House. A few foreign speakers would be included. The Rada, however, insisted that members of the government speak first and that only five women from the organizations would be permitted to address the Hosue. Nina Karpacheva, the deputy who promoted the hearings, pointed out that this was the first time in the history of Ukraine that the legislative and executive branches were addressing the issue of discrimination of women. She noted that Ukraine still lacks laws for the achievement of full legislative gender equity, and she was especially forceful in stressing the need for some type of affirmative action, or at least a more open recognition of the gap that exists between the de jure and de facto position of women. Legal equity, she maintained, was often vitiated by deeply ingrained hierarchical patriarchal attitudes in society and in government. She stressed the need to rediscover the genuine historical roots of Ukraine to recreate the active role of women in the communities of the country and civic organizations to play a more active role in pol itical life and in legislative initiatives. Dmytro Tabach- nyk, Chief of Staff of the President, read the characteris tically succinct statement of Leonid Kuchma in which the president acknowledged the unsatisfactory social and economic conditions of women, the fact that women’s professions were hardest hit by the protracted economic crisis, and the continued employment of women in heavy labor. He noted that the slow pace of attitudinal changes toward the treatment of women contributed to the even slower evolution of the necessary legal structure. 16 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ГРУДЕНЬ 1995 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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