UC’s international advocacy is having a positive impact in Ukraine

During a breakout session at the CUNA Government Affairs Conference.

Andrew Price, senior vice president of international advocacy and general counsel for WOCCU, told those in attendance to keep international advocacy in mind as they hike to Capitol Hill this week to push lawmakers to support U.S. credit unions. .

Tell them they need to tell USAID to keep funding what’s being done here for relief (in Ukraine), Price told attendees.

Alisa Stetsyshyn, consultant for the USAID-funded WOCCU Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) project, highlighted the importance of price demand by highlighting how WOCCU was able to work through the CAP project to ensure more proportional regulation for Ukrainian credit unions, especially since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country just over a year ago.

Many credit unions have engaged in all humanitarian aid projects in Ukraine at once. Thus, they needed more time than they actually had to help those in need, not just serving them, but as people helping their communities. And that’s why reducing the regulatory burden (and compliance paperwork) and giving them more time to help people, which was very important, especially at the beginning (of the full-scale war), Stetsyshyn said.

WOCCU has been implementing the CAP project since 2016 to strengthen the credit union sector in Ukraine and boost credit union lending to rural farmers and small agricultural businesses. This has continued robustly even during the war, with USAID recently extending the CAP project through September 2024.

Many types of international advocacy

According to Anatoly Murha, president of the Ukrainian American Credit Union Association, even the smallest acts of international advocacy can go a long way. Murha spoke about some of the ways American credit union professionals can advocate for Ukrainian credit unions.

When we call our elected officials, we make sure that we say, congressman or congressman, we have X number of members in your district, which is 10,000 people in Ukraine. LAW? If I have 2,500 members in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area, and each of them has four family members in Ukraine, start doing the math and you’ll see what the exponential impact is. This is an international plea, Murha said.

But Murha stressed that international advocacy is about more than reaching out to elected officials.

I think it’s also important to remember the media. So if you’re a credit union here or a vendor who has a Ukrainian employee, call your local media and tell them your story, Murha said.

Rafal Matusiak, director of the board of WOCCU and president of the National Association of Credit Unions (NACSCU) of Poland, also gave his views on the importance of supporting American credit unions. for Ukraine, which borders Poland to the southeast.

Ukraine still needs this help, unfortunately for a long time, said Matusiak. This is why cooperation and support from you is so important.