The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) is proud to announce the conclusion of its XXIX 2025 Zyizd and Triennial General Meeting (TGM) that took place over the weekend.
We warmly congratulate and welcome the newly elected AFUO Board:
- Chair – Kateryna Argyrou
- Deputy Chair – Justin Senko
- Treasurer – Andrew Kohut
- Secretary – Peter Bongiorni
- Education – Elvira Pyrczak & Dr Linda Petrokiv
- Ordinary Board Members:
- Diahanna Senko
- Taras Galas
- Andrew Duma
- Orysia Spinner
- Tomas Miljenovic
- Chrestyna Kmetj
We sincerely thank outgoing Board members Jarema Polatajko, Iryna Andreeva and Stephan Chomyn for their immense impact and dedication to the community.
57 Delegates from the AFUO’s 22 member organisations all over Australia, as well as 3 Honorary Delegates, 17 Observers and 5 special guests, attended this historic Zyizd to elect the new Board, participate in lively discussions and reflections of the AFUOs work over the last few years and brainstorm in working groups to formulate strategy on a vast range of the AFUOs aims and objectives.
The working groups offered a unique platform for collaboration, information-sharing and to set forth resolutions on: business development, community development, cultural affairs, education, government affairs, governance and policy, humanitarian aid, international affairs, media & communications and youth.
The Zyizd was opened by a prayer from Cardinal Mykola Bychok and a welcoming speech where he emphasised the importance of unity in the diaspora, joined also by a speech from Father Bohdan Vozniak. We were very fortunate to also welcome in attendance Father Michael Solomko and Father Simon Ckuj 🙏🏻
We are delighted that the weekend was also attended by special guest Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), of which the AFUO is a member alongside 82 other countries, representing 25 million Ukrainians in the global diaspora.
Paul conducted a live Q&A following his keynote presentation on the UWCs work and how the global diaspora is best placed to collaborate and assist Ukraine’s victory and reconstruction, reflecting on the current state of geopolitics and what victory and justice must look like for a genuine just peace and long-lasting security.
The AFUO sincerely thanks all attendees of the XXIX 2025 Zyizd and TGM for their contributions, dedication and invaluable input!
With over 50,000 in our Ukrainian Australian community, strengthening our communities, fostering unity, continuing our advocacy and enhancing our coordination is at the heart of what we do, and we are only able to do so by the collective efforts and participation of our members.
