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The Global Initiative on the Ground
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Laura Bush speaks with survivors and activists at the
Global Initiative launch in March
For more photos from the Komen Global Initiative in Ukraine go to the Photo Gallery |
PROGRAM SITES
Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, and it is an
important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural centre
of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries,
higher education institutions and world-famous historical
landmarks.
Lviv is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine, with many
important industries and institutions of higher education, a
thriving philharmonic orchestra and The Lviv Theatre of Opera
and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World
Heritage List.
Odesa is a major seaport on the Black Sea, the largest port in
Ukraine. The city is a mix of many nationalities and ethnic
groups, including Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Moldovans,
Bulgarians, Armenians, Georgians, Germans, Koreans, and
others. |
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WHO WE ARE
In-Country Staff
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Program Manager
Olesya Bondar has eight years of experience in development work. For five years she worked as
the program coordinator at the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) office in Ukraine. She
helped to organize a joint project with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to support
practical cross-border sharing of best practices in resolving urgent development issues and
promoting social innovation and activism. Since 2000, Olesya has been working in the area of
women’s rights—first as the women’s program coordinator of the OSI in Ukraine, then as a program
coordinator at the Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF). In 2007 she became the Director of the UWF.
Olesya holds a Masters degree in foreign languages (German) and finances. She has represented
Ukraine in many international conferences on women’s rights, including AWID, and she has coauthored
two articles dedicated to women’s rights.
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Master Trainer
Dr. Galina Maystruk graduated in 1982 from National State Medical University, Kiev, with her
MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She has worked as a gynaecologist-oncologist since 1991.
She has worked as a medical consultant in reproductive health and family planning for the UN
mission in Ukraine, a national medical consultant for the USAID/PATH Breast Cancer
Assistance Project, and a National representative and member of the executive board of the
European Breast Cancer Coalition, “Europa Donna.” Galyna is the Founder and Head of the
Board of the Ukrainian NGO “Women Health & Family Planning,” a member of the council of the
National NGOs Coalition, “Advocacy Against Cancer,” and a faculty member of Kiev-Mogila
Academy Public Health School. |
Steering Committee
Natalia Karbowska, Chair of the Board, Ukrainian
Women’s
Fund—Chairperson
Olesya Bondar—Secretary
Larisa Lopata, Head, All-Ukrainian Public Organization
“Together
Against Cancer”
Marta Kolomayets, Country Director, National Democratic
Institute for International Relations
Iryna Mykychak, Deputy Head, Lviv Oblast Health
Department
Svitlana Posokhova, Chief ObGYN, Odessa Oblast Hospital and
Head, Women’s Wellness and
Family Planning Center
Iryna Golubeva, Head, Department on Women’s and Disabled
People Issues of Kyiv City State
Administration
Olena Yurchenko, Head, All-Ukrainian Network “Advocacy
Against Cancer”
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Participants
The Komen Global Initiative conducts workshops based on the Course for the Cure™ training modules. The
participants in these workshops are nurses, breast cancer survivors, NGO workers, and others who are in positions
to spread awareness to the general population of Ukraine.
See profiles of participants in the Global Initiative – Ukraine
PARTNERSHIPS
Lead Partner Organization:
The Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF)
The Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF) is an international charitable organization founded in 2000 to
provide public organizations, and particularly women’s organizations from Ukraine, Moldova and
Belarus, with financial, informational and consultation support. UWF’s aim is to help women and
women’s organizations play an active role in the process of building gender democracy. UWF supports
the active participation of women and women’s organizations in the development of a just society that
guarantees women’s rights, strengthens their role in the community, and promotes women at all levels
and in all fields. UWF works to facilitate women in this path in every way possible.
STATISTICS
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Breast Cancer in Ukraine:
Incidence: 39.9 / 100,000
Mortality: 18.9 / 100,000
Mortality/Incidence: 47%
Globocan 2002. Rates expressed are ASR(W) |
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Women in Ukraine face a number of formidable challenges in receiving early diagnosis and treatment
for breast cancer. Mammography is expensive and
limited; and in the few cities where mammography
machines are available, women must pay for their own
film to offset the operating costs. Thus many women
are diagnosed only in the |
late stages of the disease,
when treatment options are limited and their chances of
survival are greatly reduced.
As in several countries in Eastern Europe, stigma and
shame continue to surround breast cancer in Ukraine, and many women believe that a diagnosis means
certain death. Patient education about screening and
treatment options are important steps toward
increasing early detection and thus lowering mortality
rates in Ukraine. |
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