On May 21, 2020, there was the strategic planning session of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations (IECDR).
The event, which took place online, was attended by Paul Grod, UWC President, Yurii Bobalo, Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University, Iryna Kliuchkovska, IECDR Director, Stefan Romaniw, First Vice President of the UWC, Anna Kisil, Head of WFUWO, Second Vice-President of the UWC, Nataliya Poshyvaylo-Towler and Vira Konyk, Regional Vice Presidents, Maria Kupriyanova Executive Director of the UWC, Yaroslava Khortyani, Executive Member of the UWC, Serhiy Kasyanchuk, Director of the UWC Mission to Ukraine, and the IECDR team.
The subject of discussion was a strategic partnership between the UWC and the IECDR, activities and projects implemented in 2019 and planning of the next phase of cooperation for 2020–2021.
Yurii Bobalo, Rector of Lviv Polytechnic, and Paul Grod, President of the UWC opened the meeting.
Yurii Bobalo noted that effective cooperation between Lviv Polytechnic and the Ukrainian World Congress has lasted for more than a decade. According to the Rector of Lviv Polytechnic, «we have jointly held dozens of events, conferences, annual meetings, and Days of the Ukrainian Diaspora on the occasion of the UWC’s 50th anniversary. Undoubtedly, the driving force behind these events in Ukraine, as well as hundreds of presentations of UWC activities, has been our International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations.» According to Yurii Bobalo, «such a strategic session is an important and useful event that will help to clearly define the tasks and the ways to implement them.»
Paul Grod noted that the annual planning sessions have become a good tradition of the UWC and the IECDR. According to UWC President, «today is a time of unprecedented challenges for world Ukrainians, and the IECDR is a great example of how challenges can become new opportunities, a bridge that connects the diaspora and Ukraine.»
Iryna Kliuchkovska noted the importance of strategic planning sessions between the UWC and the IECDR, first of which took place in 2019. According to IECDR Director, a new model of strategic planning not only created opportunities to outline and implement specific joint steps and projects, but also led the systematic cooperation of the UWC and the IECDR to a qualitatively new level.
According to Iryna Kliuchkovska, an ambitious task for the IECDR team is to show Ukraine the scale of the Ukrainian World Congress, its activities and figures.