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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 2010 21 The ICW, the NCW/USA, and the UNWLA by Iryna Kurowyckyj, Honorary President The National Council of Women of Ukraine was founded in Kam i ane ts Podilsky i , Ukraine, in 1919. In 1920, at the General Assembly in Oslo, Norw ay, NCW/Ukraine became a member of International Council of Women (ICW). One of the most prestigious international organizations, the ICW was founded in 1888 by Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone Blackwell, and other famous American suffra gettes. In fact, the “mother organization” of the International Council of Women and the National Council of Women of the United States was the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA), which was very active in the United States for many years. The nex t ICW General Assembly (or ICW Meeting as it was referred to in those days) was held in Washington, D . C . , in 1925. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian delegation could not attend this meeting. During this time, Poland occupied Western Ukraine, which was the home of NCW/Ukrainian, and Polish authorities refused to issue visas to the Ukrainian delegates. Sofia Rusova, the p resident of NCW/Ukraine, wrote letters to Helen Chekalenko Keller in Geneva and to Ukrainians in Canada and in the United States about this turn of events, urging members of the U.S. - based Zhinocha Hromada to attend this important event. Women in the West responded to this appeal. Attending the GA on behalf of Ukrainian women who were unable to attend themselves were Helen Chekalenko Keller from Ge neva and Julia Jarema and Olena Lototsky from New York. At this quinquennial ICW Meeting, a question was raised about the membership status of the Ukrainian National Council of Women/Ukraine. According to minutes from the meeting, “Lady Aberdeen, the Presi dent of ICW, explained that according to the rules laid down early in the history of the International Council by a special committee chaired by Mademoiselle Vidart, it was only possible to accept affiliation of the National Coun cil of countries having a r esponsible Government. Lady Aberdeen was afraid that under the circumstances, it would be impossible to continue the affiliation of the NCW / Ukraine after the close of the Quin - quannial M eeting. Madame Ch e kalenko Keller asked that more time be given to cons ideration of the question , and this was supported by U.S. delegates.” ICW records confirm that further considera - tion was of no avail. Despite the efforts of various individuals, NCW/Ukraine lost its membership in ICW. On the way to New York after the ICW Meeting, Mrs. Keller suggested that it was critical that women of Ukrainian descent look for a new window to the international world. Since Ukraine had lost its independence and its international voice, someone else had to tell the world about what was ha ppening to women and families in Ukraine. Her idea was to form a national organization (with no political or religious affiliations) that would allow Ukrainian women in the United States to work through U.S. - based national organization and with ICW to assi st their disenfranchised sisters in Ukraine. And so, it came to pass — the organization Mrs. Keller had envisioned was founded in May 1925. That organization was the UNWLA. In the years and decades that followed, UNWLA members worked through the NCW/USA to l et the world know about Ukraine under the control of oppressive foreign powers. Delegates attending ICW General Assemblies shared details about Soviet oppression and the hardships suffered by the Ukrainian people. Along with other UNWLA members, I was pri vileged to be a part of this process. In 1986, I attended the ICW General Assembly in London England. It was an uneasy time in the history of the world. Tensions between the United States and Libya had reached a breaking point, and the U.S. Air Force was c onducting air strikes against Libya. The planes were departing for their missions from England. Thus, when UNWLA President Iwanna Rozankowskyj invited several members of her Board to attend the ICW GA, most declined the invitation. But there were those who were deter - mined to carry out the UNWLA’s mandate to help Ukraine remain visible in the inte rnational arena, war or no war. And so, the following UNWLA members were in the NCW/USA delegation attending the ICW GA that year : President Iwanna Rozankow - skyj, Dr. Martha Bohachevsky - Chomiak, Iryna Kurowyckyj, and Dr. Maria Kwitkowska, who was
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