On 22 October 2007 the Memorandum of Understanding between the United
Nations Office in Ukraine and the "Ukraine 3000" International Charitable
Foundation has been signed within the framework of Global Compact
initiative. The signing ceremony took place at the Ukrainian Museum "Duhovni
Skarby".
Among the participants of the ceremony were Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Ukraine Francis M. O'Donnell, Head of the Supervisory
Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Fund Kateryna Yushchenko, heads of UN agencies in Ukraine, Head of the Board of Directors of the Ukraine
3000 Fund Oleksandr Maksymchuk, employees of the United Nations Office in Ukraine and Ukraine 3000 Fund. The event took place at the Spiritual Treasures
of Ukraine Museum.
Addressing the audience Mr. O'Donnell described joint projects envisaged
by the Memorandum, in particular, the Living Heritage project. According to Mr. O'Donnell the idea of the
project emerged after the UN representatives' visit to the Actors' Retirement
Home, where they spoke to people who used to be widely known. "Talking to these
people, I understood how much young people miss if they can't hear the life
stories of elder people." Mr. O'Donnell said. He added that the project would
help preserve ancestors' heritage and experience for the coming generations and
cultivate in the young respect for the elder people. "If we respect and value
unique experience of those people, we give additional sense to their life stories
and immortalize their memories for future generations as well as strengthen
connections among different generations", emphasized Mr. O'Donnell.
While welcoming the participants Mrs. Yushchenko described the joint
actions and projects by the UN agencies and Ukraine 3000 Fund. "We have been
fruitfully cooperating for quite a while," she said. "However, now is high time
to proceed from occasional actions to systemic work with all agencies working
in Ukraine.
This is why we decided to prepare and sign the Memorandum of Understanding,
determining the strategy for our joint action. Today we want to combine our
efforts in carrying out projects for both Ukraine and the humankind in
general, allowing to face the modern challenges, foresee and prevent the threats
of imbalance in human development."
After that, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Resident
Coordinator of the United Nations System in Ukraine Francis M. O'Donnell and
Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable
Fund Kateryna Yushchenko.
The Memorandum is aimed at promoting cooperation between the UN and Ukraine
3000 Fund in the spheres of human development, social inclusion, young people
empowerment, bridging the generation gap and enforcing dialogue, strengthening responsible citizenship.
The focus will be on the multilateral partnership as one of the driving
forces for Ukraine's
development. One of the examples of such partnership will be the Living
Heritage project. The Intel Ukraine Company will also be a partner in this
project, envisaging the creation of databases for collecting and discussing
real life stories in the Internet, imparting values and knowledge between
generations.
The United Nations in Ukraine and Ukraine 3000 Fund will also cooperate
in organizing joint national and international forums, in part, the Global
Educational Summit in Artek and Human Rebirth, Revival, and Development
International Humanitarian Forum.
Photoreport from the event: http://photo.undp.org.ua/?p=album&album=65
More information: Ms.
Aleksandra Afanasyeva, Communications Officer, UN Global Compact in Ukraine, (044)
253 93 63,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
,
www.un.org.ua
******
The Global Compact was
initiated in 1999 by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan aimed at
making its 10 universal principles on human rights, labour, corruption and the
environment part of business strategy and operations around the world.. Today, the Global Compact is an international
network uniting around 2,500 companies in almost 90 countries, cooperating for
the sake of stable economic development. In April 2006 Global Compact was successfully launched in Ukraine with
the support of leading local and multinational companies as well as senior
representatives of the Government of Ukraine. The Ukraine 3000 Fund has become the
82nd Ukrainian entity to sign the UN Global Compact and reaffirm its intention
to follow the ten universal principles. More
information: http://www.globalcompact.org.ua/ua
Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation was
established in 2001 by Victor Yushchenko. Its main goal is to address the
difficult social issues currently troubling Ukraine, particularly health care
for children, education, homeless and orphaned children, and integrating the
disabled into society. The Foundation is dedicated to encouraging the revival
and development of a tradition of charity and community responsibility in Ukraine.
All programs and projects of the Foundation are implemented within three major
areas: "Ukraine Yesterday". "Ukraine Today" and "Ukraine Tomorrow" The biggest projects
of the Foundation are the "Hospital to Hospital" program, the construction and
support of the "Children's Hospital of the Future" and "The Joy of Childhood -
Free Movements" program. More information: http://www.ukraine3000.org.ua/
22.10.07
