WOCCU and Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions headquarters in Madison, Wis. WOCCU and Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions headquarters in Madison, Wis.

Earlier this week, the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) released $500,000 from its Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund to begin a new lending program for Ukrainian credit unions to help the vulnerable populations and boost sustainable development in the country.

According to WFCU, the organization signed agreements with two United Central Credit Unions in Ukraine, which will receive the $500,000 to pass along to individual credit unions that will "provide loans aimed at stimulating rural and agricultural business recovery and growth and supporting vulnerable populations amid Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine."

The new program, called the Resilience Initiative, will focus its lending areas including the following:

  • Businesses owned by women, or by those who were either internally displaced or left the country due to the war and have now returned to Ukraine.
  • Sustainable finance for micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses located in rural areas.

WOCCU and WFCU launched the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund during the 2022 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference as the Russian military began its invasion of Ukraine. The fund was set up to assist Ukrainian credit unions, its members and employees.

Since then, WFCU stated it has implemented seven relief programs totaling over $645,000 that have focused on providing immediate assistance to the Ukrainian credit unions and their members. The displacement fund has raised more than $1.8 million.

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Michael Ogden

Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.