CANADIAN FRIENDS OF UKRAINE КАНАДСЬКЕ ТОВАРИСТВО ПРИЯТЕЛІВ УКРАЇНИ AMIS CANADIENS DE L'UKRAINE Home | About CFU | Canada-Ukraine Relations | International Statesmen Dinner | Profile in Courage Dinner | Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Centre | Crimea Project | Canada-Ukraine Library Centres | Teachers Awards Project | Election Projects | Meet our Board Members | Our Honorary Patrons | Famine Genocide Awareness Projects | Famine Genocide Lecture 2006 | Coming Events | Recent Newsletters | Press Releases | Contact CFU | Support CFU

The Crimea region of Ukraine has had a complex history. Having been subjected to a number of foreign influences, it is home to a multi-ethnic population of Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, Russian, Karajim, Jewish, Greek and German communities.

Following years of cultural apartheid imposed by the former Soviet regime, Crimea's minorities, including the Ukrainian community, currently face great challenges, both culturally and linguistically.

In the area of education, for example, Crimea's population of one million Ukrainians continues to face local discrimination. Recent statistics illustrate the sad reality. Of the 583 schools in Crimea, only 4 provide Ukrainian-language instruction. The situation is no less troubling for the Tatar minority.

Faced with the need to enhance their cultural sovereignty, Ukrainian institutions in Crimea have looked to Canada as a model of tolerance to be emulated. Ironically, Ukrainian cultural and educational institutions in Canada are flourishing with greater guarantees for their survival, than similar institutions in Crimea that face extinction in their own state.

As a result, we have partnered with a number of institutions in Crimea to provide needs-based programming and community support. For example, our program with Crimean schools includes annual literary competitions, student scholarships, and community outreach.

Canadian Friends of Ukraine are also partnered with the Naval Academy of the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. Through the Crimea Project, we provide books, periodicals, curriculum support and multi-lingual resource materials for its educational programs.

These activities are made possible through the support of individual Canadian donors and partner organizations.

WHAT UKRAINE'S NEWSPAPERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR WORK IN CRIMEA:
The contributions made by Canadian Friends of Ukraine to enhance Ukrainian cultural and educational institutions in Crimea can be found on the pages of  newspapers such as Krymska Svitlytsia.