Pictures by cancer-sick children to be sold in Cherkasy
A charity auction to sell pictures and paper applique made by cancer-sick children will take place on April 7 in Cherkasy. The organizer of the project and the auction is the international student organization AIESEC together with international public organization “Ukrainian Community” and the Community Self-Government Committee.
From Dec.1, 2009, until the end of March this year, AIESEC volunteers conducted art-therapy lessons for cancer-sick children in Cherkasy regional oncologic dispensary. According to the project organizers, the children became more lively and happier. They willingly painted and made applique. It helped distract their attention from the sickness and take the course of treatment and rehab with less pain.
Fifteen lots will be presented on the charity auction with the best children works. In general, about a dozen out of 25 sick kids who stay in the dispensary participated in the project. “An event of this type is taking place for the first time in Cherkasy. Similar projects were organized only in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, and Kyiv,” says Olena Riahuzova, project’s coordinator. “It is pleasant that the children’s parents supported us, also participated in the project, and helped the kids in various ways. During the art-therapy process the children’s mood improved, they wanted to paint and make something.”
It is interesting that the student volunteers worked with the sick children absolutely free of charge. Albina Kefri, a writer who publishes her books abroad and in known in Ukraine, also participated. The organizers plan to channel the money received from the charity auction into buying medications for the cancer-sick and purchasing the equipment for a playroom hall in the dispensary, reports Anatolii Babak.
The EU knows what Ukraine lacks
Above all, Ukraine needs a gas sector reform and recapitalization of banks. This was stated by Stefan Fuelle, EU Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Commissioner, in his speech before the members of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Brussels. The official called upon Ukraine to take “drastic anti-corruption measures” and “great attempts on improvement of the internal business and investment climate.” At the moment, the climate is “quite unfavorable to foreign investments, which are so badly needed by Ukraine,” the member of European Commission believes.
According to Fuelle, “Ukraine is important not only in terms of geography, demography and geopolitics,” but also because of “its huge industrial, economic, and agricultural potential” and “increasingly deepening democratic traditions.” Therefore, its development should have an effect upon the neighboring states. Fuelle noted that resuming the IMF cooperation program should be the matter of top priority for the new Ukrainian administration. The EU commissar stated that if Kyiv resumes its cooperation with the IMF, the EU will render macrofinancial support to Ukraine with an overall budget of 610 million euros. According to Fuelle, the creation of a free trade area between Ukraine and the EU will give Ukraine “complete access to the EU market with its 500 million consumers.”
Belarus journalists forbidden to call themselves the press
The Supreme Court of Belarus supported the appeal of the Ministry of Justice against the Belarus Association of Journalists (BAZh). The Ministry of Justice demanded that the word “press” be eliminated from the BAZh members’ IDs and the activity of the Legal Center for Media Protection be curtailed.
The court’s ruling complicates the freelance journalists’ work in Belarus. Moreover, the BAZh cannot provide legal assistance mass media outlets. An official warning issued by the Ministry of Justice says that the aims declared on the association’s official website do not correspond to the aims of the organization, as set in the statute. One of such aims is “defending the rights of journalists and the principles of free and professional journalism.” Officials say that it should cover only the members of this organization.
During the two days that the Supreme Court considered the case, the leaders and lawyers of the BAZh tried to prove that the claims of the Ministry of Justice were groundless. A provision about IDs for BAZh members was adopted nearly seven years ago, in October 2003, and has been valid ever since. Furthermore, the demands published in the newest versions of the Belarus laws on the mass media and the activity of public associations were immediately followed by the BAZh, according to their attorney. A representative of the Ministry of Justice said in court that the BAZh had to limit its activity to legal consulting for individuals, members of the organization and provide no legal assistance to the mass media.
