The National Forum on the Rights of People with Disabilities took place in Kyiv on December 3. The forum was organized by the public association “The League of the Strong,” which brings together effective organizations in this field. The First Lady, Olena Zelenska, participated in the forum. As a result, the participating organizations adopted a resolution that outlines the priority areas of work for the upcoming year. This resolution has already been signed by 26 organizations on the first day.
“Our common task is not to turn accessibility into an oasis. The entire country should become barrier-free. All its options – career, educational, domestic, recreational. We all experience limited mobility. We all experience mental exhaustion. We get tired. We feel powerless. Therefore, equal opportunities are needed not for someone, not for “specific categories”. It is needed for all of us,” said the First Lady Olena Zelenska.
According to the Resolution, the three main priorities for the upcoming year are as follows. First and foremost, there should be a change in the perception of disability in Ukrainian society, specifically a shift from sympathy to respect. This includes increasing the visibility of people with disabilities and improving communication skills with them. The goal is to reduce the percentage of Ukrainians who feel pity and sympathy when they meet a person with disabilities from 71% to 60%.
Second priority – increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to find employment and work in the open labor market. The indicator of success for the set of actions will be an increase in the percentage of employment from 13% to 17%.
Another equally important priority is ensuring equal access for people with disabilities to premises and buildings, as well as services, including digital, informational, and administrative services. An indicator of effectiveness in this direction will be the fact that by the end of next year, no fewer than 300 territorial communities are working on improving local legislation and taking concrete steps to ensure accessibility.
“We have developed the program of the forum, as well as the proposed priorities for the coming year based on the results of the national sociological study on the perception of people with disabilities in Ukraine, which we recently conducted. The results indicate that the areas in which people with disabilities experience the greatest discrimination are physical access to buildings and employment. At the same time, a significant number of people with disabilities do not lead active lives – 50% of Ukrainians rarely or almost never see people with disabilities in public places,” explains Daria Sydorenko, Executive Director of the public association “The League of the Strong”.
To join the signing of the Resolution and declare readiness for joint implementation of activities, please fill out the form.
The forum is organized thanks to a grant received from the “Support for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)” Program in Ukraine, as part of the financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Development of the United Kingdom. The program is implemented by Crown Agents in partnership with International Alert and in cooperation with Crown Agents in Ukraine. The content of the press release does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Development of the United Kingdom, Crown Agents, International Alert, and Crown Agents in Ukraine.
The forum also took place with the financial support of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany (GFFO), CBM, and the European Disability Forum within the “Empower Ukraine” project. The views expressed during the forum cannot be considered the official opinion of the financial partner and the European Disability Forum.