It’s hard to believe it’s been TEN years since our Vital Voices Voyage set sail in Vienna. It seems much more recent especially when I saw so many of the women who gathered together in 1997—350 women from all the former Soviet Union countries met with women in Western Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States and Canada. Many of those same women came here to Kyiv. It’s amazing but their appearance has hardly changed a bit. I suspect it’s because they are doing what they love and it keeps them looking young and vibrant. Along with the returning crowd were a large group of newcomers and young women and girls.

Jill Dougherty of CNN welcomed 150+ women from the Eastern Europe, Central Asia, UK, US and Canada and offered her personal assessment of how much things had changed since her days as CNN’s Moscow bureau chief beginning in 1997. She recalled the era of where there was only one or two virtually powerless Russian women who sat at the table as decoration but were touted by the leaders as evidence that they were a government who supported women. And, now she was buoyed by the growing number of women with real power…not yet enough, but progress nonetheless.

Ukraine’s First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, charmed us all with her insights about Ukrainian women and the obvious pride she has in supporting their progress. She began the day and ended the day with us by hosting a lovely dinner at Ukraine House, sponsored by Coca Cola.

Elena Franchuk, the founder and chairman of the board of the Elena Franchuk Anti-AIDS Foundation and primary benefactor of the Summit addressed the group about her hopes for the future of Ukraine society, especially with regard to it’s health and ability to combat AIDS.

The Honorable Kim Campbell, Former Prime Minister of Canada, gave a very compelling keynote address that received enthusiastic approval from everyone.

Melanne Verveer, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Vital Voices led a panel discussion highlighting women’s progress, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead. Her guests included six of the women who were with us in Vienna and they candidly assessed their progress and most was positive, except for Belarus whose women continue to struggle far more than any other countries’ women.

The Press attended in large numbers the morning session and stayed for a noon press conference. It was encouraging to see the media’s attention that seemed to be given to women’s issues in the region. We’ll see if it actually materializes.

After lunch Ambassador Connie Morella gave a keynote address on the economic force of women globally. She provided statistics and pointed out that while women have made major steps forward in business, they are still not earning as much as men, and are not yet equal to male entrepreneurs in revenue produced by their businesses, and women are at a bare minimum in terms of the of corporate Board seats they occupy. So while there has been progress, much remains to be done. A lively panel discussion followed, led by Elena Feyashina, Executive Director of the Committee of 20 in Russia. The group discussed women’s economic progress in the Eurasia region specifically.

A marketplace of Ukrainian craft products opened its doors and attracted a lot of interest from attendees proving that women are women, regardless of the serious competition for their attention. Someone pointed out that it underscores the economic force of women as consumers!

Lots of Strategy Sessions and Workshops followed focusing on a wide range of provocative economic-related topics.

I recommend you visit the Huffington Post blog by Ann Marie Cunningham for a much more professional account of what’s happening at the Ukraine Summit.

Mary D. Yerrick
Vice Chair
Vital Voices Global Partnership

Honorable Jolanta Kwasniewski - Former First lady of Poland
Photo credit: Ezra Gregg