From the XV to the XVI Congress

Our main resource is a well-organised party. We promise a lot to the voters, but no more than we can do. Viktor Medvedchuk

Since the XV Congress of the SDPU(U) held in June 2000, one and a half years ago, the party organisations have focused their attention on further work to develop and consolidate the Party organisationally and politically, to make its cadre base stronger, to increase its effectiveness and authority.

We, the united social democrats, have a lot to say to the voters. We were among the initiators of the parliamentary majority, came out with some important initiatives to carry out administrative, land, tax and pension reforms. The SDPU(U) faction in the Verkhovna Rada actively participated in elaboration and discussion of new economic laws to boost industrial growth and protect national manufactures.

At the same time, since the XV Congress the united social democrats have actively propagated social democratic values among Ukrainian population. Through the activity of their parliamentary faction, central organs and regional party organisations, Public Reception-rooms and charitable funds the SDPU(U) consistently implemented principles of socially orientated market economy and open civil society where, in the first place, the state works for its citizens. The SDPU(U) places especial emphasis on the necessity to develop a system of public control. In particular, the Party leadership made the Statement on Fair Elections advocating all interested parties to unite their efforts in order to organise effective public control in all constituencies.

The SDPU(U) regional organisations have intensified their social and political activity. Different forms and methods the SDPU(U) uses when working with people, its concrete actions and increasing number of its supporters - all this made the Party one of the most popular and influential political forces in the majority of our country's regions.

Relying on the principle of aim approach and systemic use of resources the Party extended its presence on the World Wide Web for both Ukrainian (www.sdpuo.org.ua) and foreign users (www.sdpuo.com).

 

Membership, structure and social organisation

The Party's membership continued to grow. As of January 1, 2002 the SDPU(U) has 345 153 members. In 2001 the Party's membership increased more than two times. The largest among the Party oblast organisations are Zakarpattia oblast organisation numbering 32 956 members, Kharkiv oblast organisation - 30 155 members, Chernivtsi oblast organisation - 27 682 members and Kyiv city organisation - 25 706 members.

Today among the SDPU(U) members there are 20 national deputies (the SDPU(U) faction includes 32 MPs), one Minister of Ukrainian Government, one Head of State Committee, two Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors, four Deputy Ministers and Deputy Heads of State Committees, one Deputy Head of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, one Head and 13 Deputy Heads of Oblast State Administrations, three Heads of Oblast Councils, 29 Heads of Rayon Councils, 153 Heads of Rayon State Administrations and their Deputies, four deputies of the Supreme Council of the Crimea, 810 deputies of City Councils, 69 City Mayors and their deputies.

Members of the Party head the Parliament Committees on National Security and Defence; Freedom of Speech and Information; Youth Policy, Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Members of the SDPU(U) faction form a part of the Verkhovna Rada's constant delegations to the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Committee on parliamentary co-operation between Ukraine and the European Union, the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the states - members of the CIS.

49.3% of the SDPU(U) members are women and 33.2% - young people under 30. The average age of the Party's members is 38 years.

As of the beginning of 2002 the SDPU(U) has about 780 rayon and city organisations, it has created and registered 17 423 local primary organisations. The largest number of them functions in Kharkiv, L'viv and Cherkasy regions.

The Party has its central publishing organ - all-Ukrainian weekly Nasha Gazeta , since January 1, 2002 its circulation is over 546 193 copies, and 11 regional periodicals with total circulation 101 700 copies.

The SDPU(U) carries out its youth policy through the non-governmental organisation "Ukrainian Social Democratic Youth" (USDM) represented in all the 27 regions of Ukraine. As of January 1, 2002 the USDM has 66 812 members.

At the beginning of February 2002 the Bloc of Ukrainian Youth including leading non-governmental youth organisations of Ukraine, decided in favour of political partnership with the SDPU(U).

 

Activity of SDPU(U) Public Reception-rooms

In 1998 the SDPU(U) started work to set up Public Reception-rooms of the SDPU(U) parliamentary faction in different regions of Ukraine. By now the Party has created the Central Public Reception-room of the Faction acting in the city of Kyiv, one Republican (in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), 24 oblast, one city Sevastopol' Public Reception-rooms and their 216 regional departments.

The best developed structure of the SDPU(U) Public Reception-rooms are in Kharkiv (43), L'viv (33), Zaporizhia (20), Zakarpattia (17) and Luhans'k (17) regions as well as Sumy, Dnipropetrovs'k, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivs'k regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (7 - 15 organisations each).

The main tasks of the SDPU(U) Public Reception rooms are:

to ensure that all citizens can fully enjoy their constitutional rights to submit written proposals on how to improve the work of state organs and non-governmental organisations; to make statements; to question actions of state officials, state and public institutions;

to ensure that all propositions, applications and complains of our citizens are timely considered by corresponding state organs;

to ensure that the SDPU(U) members' oral and written appeals to the Party and its parliamentary faction to defend them against allegations and persecution for political convictions, party and public work are registered and considered;

to give methodical help to the SDPU(U) regional organisations, its members and supporters, deputies of city councils, non-governmental organisations and trade unions' activists working with people.

From June 2000 till December 2001 about 30 000 people turned to our public waiting rooms: 5 674 - in Kharkiv, 2 709 - in Luhans'k, 3 784 - in Kyiv, 2 356 - in Chernivtsi. The majority of them asked for social protection and financial aid or complained about drawbacks in the work of law machinery and government organs.

Citizens' appeals are systematically analysed, considered in accordance with Ukrainian legislation and sent to corresponding institutions.

Some propositions to improve legislation are being submitted for consideration to national deputies - members of the SDPU(U) faction in the Verkhovna Rada.

 

All-Ukrainian projects of SDPU(U)

Legal education

For the last three years the Party has been realising "Legal Education", one of its the best known and most popular national projects.

The aim of the project is to develop legal culture of Ukrainian population, which is one of the most important preconditions for the development of civil society in Ukraine. Through "Legal Education" our citizens can receive exhaustive information about their constitutional rights guaranteed by the laws of Ukraine.

In the context of the project the UT-2 Channel broadcasts TV programmes "A Man and the Law" and "The Law", and the UT-1 Channel broadcasts the programme "Law is Law". Since March 1999, 123 regional TV and radio companies have been taking part in the project.

 

"We remember you!"

It is almost three years since the Party launched its national project "We think of you!"

To implement the decisions made at the XV Congress of the Party, from November 28 till December 12, 2000, in all the oblast centres, in the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol', the SDPU(U) held first of its kind all-Ukrainian political action, dedicated to the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In a festive atmosphere we honoured 294 Heroes of the Soviet Union in ceremonies held in palaces and houses of culture, in oblast theatres and the Party offices. Besides financial aid, regional party organisations gave veterans and veterans' institutions presents on the occasion.

 

Land Code of Ukraine

The Party contributed a lot to the approval of the new Land Code. After the Verkhovna Rada finally passed it, the SDPU(U) launched a national project of the same name to provide Ukrainian citizens with free of charge legal advice on land reforms. Together with land law specialists the SDPU(U) executive committee compiled a specialised manual containing answers to the questions that often arise when implementing the new land legislation. The work started in November 2001 and met with a wide support from our peasants.

 

Demobilisation

Another all-Ukrainian project the SDPU(U) Public Reception-rooms are working on is called Demobilisation. The aim of the project is to get information about day-to-day life of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, exercise public control over it and develop propositions on implementation of military reforms in Ukraine. In the context of the project lawyers of the SDPU(U) Public Reception-rooms offer free of charge legal advice to military men and their family members.

 

Cadre reserve is a new strength of Ukraine

In the context of this project started in November 2001 the SDPU(U) carries out a large-scale cadre research all over Ukraine. The project aims to find specialists for regional government bodies of all levels, efficient managers and directors among workers who already proved themselves valuable and promising students. Regional organisation committees of the project try to involve in it directors of local enterprises, business structures, organisations and institutions of higher education. With their help at the beginning of 2002 the Party plans to create Information database of Ukraine's best managers in order to involve them in national socio-economic and legal programmes.

 

Scientific research conference "Social Democratic Idea in Ukrainian and European Politics"

The conference held by the SDPU(U) on February 9 - 10, 2001 in Kyiv was dedicated to domestic and foreign authors' research on:

historical fundamentals of social democracy in Ukraine,

theoretical and methodical fundamentals of modern social democracy,

modern Ukrainian social democracy: from theory to practice,

European social democracy - principles, teachings, perspectives.

Representatives of 119 higher education and scientific institutions of Ukraine, prominent scientists and representatives of social democratic parties of Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden took part in the event. The conference's materials came out as a separate manual.

 

Publishing House Osnovni Tsinnosti

To propagate social democratic ideas in April 2000 the SDPU(U) created its publishing house Osnovni Tsinnosti (Fundamental Values), first of its kind in Ukraine.

Osnovni Tsinnosti publishes works on the main directions in the world social democratic thought, covers history, theory and practice of modern social democratic movement in Ukraine and abroad. In 2000 - 2001 Osnovni Tsinnosti published 14 books.

Over 7 000 books were sent free of charge to the National Parliamentary Library, libraries of scientific institutions at Ukraine's National Academy of Science and scientific libraries of more than 100 institutions of higher education.

 

Creation of women's organisations

In the last two years the Party participated in creation of 14 regional women's organisations in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Vinnytsia, Volyn', Dnipropetrovs'k, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson regions and in Kyiv. These public associations were established to support public initiatives aimed to increase women's role in the society, develop gender approaches when solving social problems, especially the problem of social protection of mothers and children in Ukraine.

 

Support to the new Law on Languages

Following the initiative of the SDPU(U) Crimean Republican organisation we collected 140 000 signatures in support of the new Law on Languages that would take account of the main provisions of the European Charter for Regional Languages and Languages of National Minorities. Subscription lists from Zakarpattia, Odesa, Chernivtsi regions and the Crimea were submitted to the SDPU(U) parliamentary faction in the Verkhovna Rada.

 

Mass actions

International Workers' Day

Following the tradition, on May 1 - 2, 2001 we held festive actions to celebrate International Workers' Day. The SDPU(U) primary organisations held 107 manifestations, 610 rallies, 616 May Day picnics, 70 sports competitions and many other events in all regional centres, in the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol', altogether, in 759 settlements all over Ukraine. About 300 000 people took part in May Day festivities organised by the SDPU(U).


Victory Day

On May 9, 2001 the SDPU(U) primary organisations held Victory Day celebrations in 412 localities all over the country. For veterans of the Great Patriotic War the Party held concerts, charity dinners and outdoor festivals, and gave them financial aid. We also laid wreaths on military monuments and memorials, and improved the state of military graves. More than 500 000 people took part in the festivities organised by the united social democrats to celebrate May 9.


60th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War

On the eve of that tragic anniversary the SDPU(U) Crimean Republican, oblast, Kyiv and Sevastopol' city organisations together with the all-Ukrainian NGO Ukrainian Social Democratic Youth worked to improve Memorials of Glory, perished soldiers' burial places, obelisks, monuments etc. and plant trees near them. With participation of representatives of state administrations and organs of local self-government the SDPU(U) Public Reception-rooms offered free legal advice to war veterans, widows of those who had fought in the war and Ostarbeiters. The SDPU(U) activists visited war veterans in hospitals and medical institutions, gave them financial aid, medicines, household goods and helped to repair dwellings to some of them.

On June 22, 2001 the SDPU(U) primary organisations organised meetings of the Great Patriotic War veterans with Ukrainian youth in institutions of higher education and military units of 180 localities. They also organised chow wagons, held requiem meetings, concerts, literature expositions and charity cinema performances.

2 288 audiocassettes "We think of you!" with war time songs recorded by TV and radio company "Alternative" with the assistance of the SDPU(U) Executive Committee were distributed among war veterans, Veterans' Regional Committees, military units and schools.


Armed Forces of Ukraine 10th anniversary

To implement the SDPU(U) Political Bureau's resolution of October 16, 2001 "On financial aid to Heroes of the Soviet Union - Ukrainian citizens who permanently reside in Ukraine" and to mark the Armed Forces of Ukraine 10th anniversary, December 3 - 18, 2001 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in all the oblasts of our country and in the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol' took place actions to honour 274 Heroes of the Soviet Union, full-cavaliers of the Glory Order, equated with them persons and 34 soldiers of Ukrainian Insurgent Army who during WW II fought in Western Ukraine. Those of them who were not able to take part in festive events were given financial aid and presents at their homes.


New Year celebrations

Following the tradition, on the eve of the New Year and Christmas the united social democrats organised charity actions under the funny title "Party of Santa Clauses". Last year (2001) more than 200 000 children got presents at concerts, puppet performances, New Year parties in hundreds of boarding schools and children homes all over Ukraine. New-Year days 2002 were no exception, and the "Party of Santa Clauses" gave presents to 164 000 kids.





Dynamics of the SDPU(U) membership growth in 1990 - 2002

Period	Number of members of SDPU(U)	Growth
As of May 27, 1990	58
October 25, 1991	235	178
May 23, 1992	399	164
November 28, 1992	1 356	957
September 18, 1993	1 535	179
May 28, 1994	1 635	100
January 21, 1995	1 914	279
April 27, 1996	2 278	364
October 1, 1997	12 432	10 154
October 3, 1998	85 443	73 011
May 15, 1999	91 037	5 594
June 10, 2000	134 038	43 001
January 1, 2002	348 852	214 814

Network of the SDPU(U) party organisations

As of January 1, 2002

No	The names of party organisations and primary organisations	The number of party organisations	The number of administrative units	Percentage
1.	The Crimean Republican, oblast, Kyiv and Sevastopol' city organisations	27	27	100,00%
2.	Rayon organisations (village rayons)	488	489	99,8%
3.	City organisations, total:	432	449	96,2%
	Including
3.1	in the cities of oblast subordination	171	171	100,00%
3.2	in the cities of rayon subordination	261	278	93,9%
4.	Districts of the cities organisations	121	121	100,00%
5.	Primary organisations in settlements	731	789	92,6%
6.	Primary organisations in villages	10 267	10 271	99,9%
7.	Primary organisations in companies, institutions, organisations and territorial	5 857

The SDPU(U) members in the Verkhovna Rada and in local self-governing bodies

No	Position	Number of members of SDPU(U)	Number of mandates	Percentage
1.	National Deputies of Ukraine	20	450	4,4%
2.	Deputies of Verkhovna Rada of the Crimea	3	100	3%
3.	Deputies of Oblast Councils	119	20 065	0,6%
4.	Deputies of Rayon and City Councils	2 563	49 123	5,2%
5.	Deputies of Settlement and Village Councils	3 869	50 000	7,7%
6.	City Mayors	41	449	9,1%
7.	Heads of Rayon and District of the City Councils	29	608	4,8%
8.	Settlement and Village Mayors	909	11 060	8,2%

Members of SDPU(U) Faction in bodies of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

No	Position	Number
1.	National Deputies of Ukraine - members of the Party faction	32
	Including
2.	Heads of Verkhovna Rada Committees	3
3.	First Deputy Heads of Committees	3
4.	Deputy Heads of Committees	7
5.	Representatives in permanent delegations of Verkhovna Rada	3

Gender balance

 

Age


Average age - 38

 

Social Composition of the Party