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02 August 2006 16:35

The Family from A to Z International Forum Opened, Co-organized by the Ukraine 3000 Foundation

The Family from A to Z First International Forum of non-governmental organizations working in the sphere of motherhood and childhood, co-organized by the Ukraine 3000 Foundation, started its work in Kyiv.

At the Forum’s opening ceremony, Head of the Tomorrow Area Olha Kovalenko read out a greeting letter from Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko. “We often speak about family being protected by the state in Ukraine. However, even best state programs won’t succeed unless we all contributes our efforts into consolidating our own families,” the letter reads. "Love, mutual respect and understanding, cooperation, deferential attitude toward senior family members, support for each other, raising children in a loving, harmonious, and caring atmosphere – these are traditional values of a Ukrainian family. We need to reinstate them to restore Ukraine’s fame and liberty, to give our children confidence in their future and secure our parent’s decent life in their old age,” Mrs. Yushchenko stresses in her address.

The opening ceremony was also participated by Head of the UNICEF Office in Ukraine Jeremy Hartley, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine Ueli Muller, Head of the Kharkiv City Family from A to Z Public Organization’s Board of Directors Valentyna Chichkun, Head of the Mothers and Children Health Protection Department at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Nadiya Zhylka, and Director of the Family and Gender Policy Department at the Ministry of Family and Youth Elza Leshchenko.

At a press conference following the opening ceremony, the Preparing Parents for Childbirth in Ukraine textbook published by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine was presented.

All Forum’s participants received presents from the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation: a CD titled “Lullabies: Ukraine’s Traditional Musical Culture”.

Family from A to Z is Ukraine’s first forum of non-governmental organizations working in the sphere of motherhood and childhood. Its goal is coordinating and working out a strategy for Ukraine’s public organizations dealing with motherhood and childhood, along with consolidating efforts of the state and public organizations working in this field. The forum’s organizers intend to make it annual.

The Forum’s program envisages discussing the priorities in the non-governmental organizations’ work in the field of parents training, mothers’ and children's health protection, and early development; elaborating a strategy for Ukraine’s public organizations and coordinating their work; exchanging experience in preparing parents for the childbirth, child care, and creating condition for the child's full-fledged development; promoting positive public opinion on the need for parents’ education.

The Family from A to Z Forum will last from August 2 to 5. From August 3 to 5, five simultaneous sections will be held: Working with a Family: Preparation for Childbirth; Breastfeeding/Methods for Assisting the Child’s Development; Modern Methods of Work with Parents; Methods for Assisting the Child’s Development; Trends in Work with Pregnant Women. The Forum’s schedule also includes master classes and trainings by Ukrainian and foreign experts.

Representatives of 70 public organizations from all Ukraine’s regions and from abroad take part in the forum.

The event is organized by the Family from A to Z Public Organization (Kharkiv) with the support from the UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund, Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine,  Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation, and USAID,  and with the assistance from Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports.