MEDIA RELEASE
COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATIONS WORK FOR AUSTRALIA-UKRAINE TIES – INAUGURAL BILATERAL CONFERENCE TO BE HELD
An inaugural Ukraine/Australia relations conference series will be held in late 2015 on the initiative of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) and Centre UA.
OzUke2015 will be a bilateral event at the NGO level to promote greater bilateralism between Australia and Ukraine in a new era of cooperation.
Stefan Romaniw, President of AFUO, the peak body for the Ukrainian Australian community, said: “Now is the time to build greater ties between Ukrainian society and Australian society for the benefit of both. Our countries are geographically far away but we strongly share democratic values and the spirit of mateship.
“There are great potential synergies at the civil society, ethical business, sport, and cultural levels, but these aspects need to be actively cultivated, and we wish to do so with our excellent partners at Centre UA, who have have a great track-record in the democratisation process in Ukraine,” Mr Romaniw said.
Oleh Rybachuk, Head of Centre UA, a leading pro-reform Ukraine-based NGO, said: “There’s much of interest in Australia for Ukrainian citizens. It’s a highly advanced democracy; it has huge economic prosperity that relies on socially-responsible free market operators, and; from the Prime Minister down, it’s been a great friend to Ukraine in its time of need.
“Ukraine’s sovereignty and democratic progress in part in rely on Ukraine being a global citizen. Every step counts and we are delighted to be working with AFUO on OzUke2015’ to take an important one forward,” Mr Rybachuk said.
The OzUke2015 conference series will have both a Melbourne round and a Kyiv round. With speakers from both countries, conference themes will include developing socially-responsible business practices, promoting anti-corruption best practice, and fostering civil society organisations and youth leadership.
OzUke2015 conference organisers have begun to reach out to stakeholders who may wish to support and participate in the conference program, including business organisations, community activists and respective governments.
Delegations from Ukraine to Australia and vice versa, including with youth and business leaders, will be organised to coincide with the respective OzUke2015 sessions.
The organisation of OzUke2015 will be led by Ms Inna Borzylo, CEO Centre UA, and Pete Shmigel, Public Affairs Director AFUO.
Contact: Inna Borzylo +38 099 271 95 59 (Ukraine) or Stefan Romaniw 0419 531 255 (Australia)
April 2, 2015
