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INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND WOMEN by MARTHA BOHACHEVSKY CHOMIAK The United Nations is celebrating its golden anni versary this year. Fifty years for an international peace keeping organization is actually a long time — a first in the historical development of the world. The only similar international organization of this nature was the League of Nations which arose from the ashes of World War I. Prior to that time, there had been periods of peace — or what passed for peace — kept by the various empires that preserved peace on their terms. In retrospect, especially from the vantage point of centuries of tur moil, these period of “golden peace” appear very attrac tive; but in reality, the peace was a reflection of the power and interests of the empires involved. The League of Nations, which was to have been an instrumental body based on the mutual cooperation of all states, regardless of their size or power, was a revo lutionary organization in the sense that it aspired to make war impossible and illegal. The League, as unlikely as it seems, considered itself the culmination of over half a century of pioneering efforts to create interna tional organizations that cut across borders. The exist ence of these organizations, which would be based not on the limited interests of states, but on the shared aspi rations of their members, was to ensure peace. The pre vailing wisdom was that war was the result of the selfish interests of governments and their armies. The people, it was felt, would not voluntarily involve themselves, their families and their economic resources in such illogical and destructive activities as wars. The hopes was that the growth of international organizations whose members cut across government borders would make war more difficult. Foremost in these international efforts were women. Women, who had been cut off for millennia from affairs of state, had been among the first to try to organize internationally — individual groups with individual groups. The first such international organization was the International Council of Women, organized through the efforts of American and British women with the support of various European conferences of women. The ICW has remained in existence now for 108 years, thus becoming the oldest international organization. When the League of Nations was formed, the ICW was there providing support and helping in the devel opment of the committee structure. ICW was not part of the official structure of the League of Nations, which was conceived as being exclusively an organization of governments. But the failure of the League in preserving peace made governments somewhat more willing to entertain the participation of non-governmental organi zations, and this is how the term non-governmental organization came into being. While the men discussed issues, women insisted that this time around their voices would be heard. It was an uphill struggle. Women had a hard time making themselves heard. As the United Nations was being formed, scores of women worked the halls of the new organization to ensure that issues of health, welfare, children’s rights and the dignity of women would also be put on the agenda of the august organization. At the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, the NGO’s (non-governmental organi zations) — now a household word in the international organization — played a leading role in its affairs. The ICW, the first NGO registered at the United Nations, has been active in the affairs of the world for the last century. Ukrainians, of course, had an extremely difficult time penetrating the walls of all international organiza tions. The National Council of Women of Ukraine was a member of the ICW from 1919 to 1921. At that point, all women’s organizations from states that became com munist were formally declared counter-revolutionary and bourgeois, and they were removed from ICW member ship. The ICW was based upon state principle, and loss of sovereignty meant loss of membership in the ICW. Nevertheless, the women’s network continued to func tion and Ukrainians attempted to keep the international contacts they had established. At the League of Nations, it was these women’s contacts that raised the problem of the 1933 famine, at least at the preliminary committee meetings. Ukrainian emigre women later joined the National Women’s Councils of the countries in which they had settled. The Ukrainian National Women’s League of America has been especially active in the National Council of Women of the United States, so much so that our own Irena Kurowyckyj is now president of that organization. Through our participation in the National Council of Women of the United States, Ukrainian pres ence was evident at the 108th anniversary celebration of the ICW and the 50th anniversary celebration of the Uni ted Nations. The next step is for Ukraine to represent itself at the United Nations. Your turn now, women of Ukraine. 22 ’НАШЕ Ж И ТТЯ ”, ТРАВЕНЬ 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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