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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 201 2 WWW. UNWLA.ORG 19 The meeting at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN: from left to right – Dr. Martha Kichorowska Kebalo, Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev, Marianna Zajac , Olena Suslova, Dr. Kathryn Vasilaky. meeting with Olena Suslova, which took place in the main conference room at the Permanent Mi s- sion of Ukraine. At the invitation of Ambassa dor Yuriy Sergeyev, the UNWLA organized this i n- formal meeting and Ms. Zajac, as moderator of this discussion, asked Ms. Susl ova to explain the process and importance of Ukraine’s participation in the Committee on the Elimination of Discrim - ina tion against Women (CEDAW). Established in 1982, the Committee oversees progress with r e- gard to women’s issues made in those countries t hat ratified the 1979 Convention on the Elimina - tion of All Forms of Discrimination against Wo m- en. Ms. Suslova has been nominated as Ukraine’s candidate for a three - year term (2013 - 2016) to the 23 - member international committee that monitors and implements the provisions of the CEDAW Convention. This year is the first time that Ukraine is nominating a candidate to the E x- perts Committee. Although the United States is only one of six countries (of 193) that has not yet ratified the Convention (along with Sudan, Somalia, Iran, and the Pacific Island nations of Palau and Tonga), Ms. Zajac n0netheless pledged the support of America’s largest and oldest Ukrainian women’s organization, the UNWLA, to help Ms. Suslova be elected as Ukraine’s representative to CED AW. The other representatives of North American Ukrainian diaspora women’s organizations pre - sent also expressed their support of Olena Suslo - va’s nomination and their sincere hope that she wins the necessary vote of the CEDAW members in June 2012 to join the Experts Committee. The informal discussion at the Permanent Mission ended with fond recollections of some of the dramatic changes during the 20 years of Ukraine’s independence. Ms. Suslova, who is cu r- rently the Gender Activity Coordinator for the Par liamentary Development Program of Ukraine and a Founder and Chair of the Women’s Infor - mation Consultative Center (Ukraine), shared her memories about her first steps in the women’s movement in Ukraine and the inspiration she drew from the copies of Our Li fe that came into her po s- session in the early 1990s. Such interact tions only confirm the importance of the work that the U N- WLA and WFUWO have been doing to encourage and support the Ukrainian women’s movement since independence, she noted, and this year’s panel devoted to the realities of rural women’s lives in Ukraine makes a good example of the continued cooperation between the Ukrainian women’s o r- ganizations in Ukraine and abroad. UNWLA Honorary President Anna Kraw - czuk recalled the first time in 1993 that UNWLA representatives met with the newly reestablished Soyuz Ukrainok, among whom were Olena Sus - lova and Ella L a makh, a representative of Ukraine who was also present at this meeting. Ms. Kraw - czuk expressed her gratitude and satisfac tion that thos e first, tentative efforts took root and that two decades later, the 30 women around the con - ference table could so openly and freely engage in dialogue. Although many positive steps were noted, the evening did end on a somber note as all pa r- ti c ipants expressed frustration with the ap parent reversal of Ukraine’s democracy and respect for human rights, in particular, as noted Oksana Kis', Visiting Professor at Columbia Uni versity, the dubious prosecution of Yulia Tymo shenko that carried with it a bare ly hidden sexist disdain for powerful women by Ukraine’s current president, Viktor Yanukovych. Irene Jarosewich also provided information for this article.
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