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Contact: Maura Shelden,
Open World Leadership Center
Tel. 202-707-6197
mshelden@loc.gov

Washington, DC– Representatives of 20 of 27 of Ukraine’s regions and NGOs from these regions will be arriving in Washington, D.C. for two days of orientation before breaking into smaller groups and departing for seven different host communities across America.

A children’s rehabilitation and social support services delegation will be exploring issues concerning the availability of services in communities for special needs children. The program is part of a series of ongoing activities in this field between the cities of Odessa, Ukraine and Alexandria, VA. Open World’s 1000th unique individual since initiating the Ukraine program in December 2003 is a part of this group. The delegate, Alla Ylashenko, is a young neurologist that advocates for stricken youth, tries to diagnose cases of infantile cerebral paralysis while such cases are treatable, and strongly supports physical rehabilitation.

A delegation from Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine will be hosted by their sister city of Arlington, VA. The two sister groups will work at strengthening sister city relationships between the two cities, and will include topics such as health care, education, and eco-tourism.

A delegation that will be hosted by Bethesda, MD will be made up of representatives of all five Ukrainian Community Centers with which the host organization, Friends of Chernobyl Centers, U.S. (FOCCUS) works, and will enable them to continue their important working in making areas damaged by the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 to be reclaimable and livable.

Delegations traveling to Berkeley, CA are part of a long series of environmental projects that the California-based host, the Center for Safe Energy, has initiated with its partners throughout Ukraine. A delegation will also travel to Wasau, WI to look at how NGOs can play a vital role in society for curing such social ills as displaced persons, sick and at-risk populations, and housing problems.

Finally, a delegation of proud and successful women leaders, hosted by Open World national grantee Vital Voices, will spend a week in Washington, D.C. Vital Voices has created a dynamic network of women leaders around the world and has been a key Open World partner in working with the dynamic emerging women leaders of the post-Soviet states.

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The U.S. Congress established Open World in 1999 to enhance understanding and capabilities for cooperation between the United States and Russia. In 2003, Congress made all post-Soviet states eligible for the program. Thanks to Open World, some 15,000 current and future Eurasian leaders have experienced American civil society and have been exposed to new ideas and practices that they can adapt for use in their own work. Open World also promotes partnerships and continued communications between delegates and their American hosts and professional counterparts. Open World currently operates exchanges for political and civic leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

For more information, please contact Maura Shelden, Open World Public Affairs Officer at 202-707-6197. For more information on Open World, please visit http://www.openworld.gov.

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