“The League of the Strong”, in collaboration with 10 organisations representing people with disabilities from various regions of Ukraine, will monitor compliance with the rights guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with a view to producing a report for the European Commission. The report will form part of efforts to strengthen the European integration process. This was announced by Daria Kukurika, Executive Director of “The League of the Strong”
“The rights of people with disabilities cover many areas of life — education, employment, healthcare, accessibility, independent living, access to information and justice. To understand how the rights of people with disabilities are actually upheld in Ukraine, a single report, a single community or the perspective of a single organisation is not enough. We need diverse experiences, common criteria and verified data. That is precisely why “The League of the Strong” brings together 10 organisations that will carry out monitoring in their communities using a common methodology,” explained Daria Kukurika.
The first stage will begin when “The League of the Strong” announces an open call for organisations of people with disabilities who are ready to learn how to carry out monitoring and join the collaborative process in their own towns and cities. They will help to identify systemic issues, compare the situation across different communities, draw up recommendations for the authorities, and strengthen both local and national advocacy. The trainers and monitoring coordinators will be Kateryna Dayneko, a board member of “The League of the Strong” and a lawyer at the Kharkiv Regional Foundation ‘Civic Alternative’, and Maria Yasenovska, one of the founders of “The League of the Strong” and president of the Kharkiv Regional Foundation “Civic Alternative”.
“Their findings will form the basis of a joint report on the observance of the rights of people with disabilities, which will help assess Ukraine’s progress towards accession to the European Union and serve as a foundation for dialogue with the European Commission. We are convinced that a complete picture of the observance of the rights of people with disabilities can only be obtained when different organisations work together using common criteria. Together, we see more — and can have a greater influence on decisions that change people’s lives,” added Daria Kukurika.
In this project, “The League of the Strong” acts not only as the organiser of the training but also as the national coordinator for joint monitoring. This is the next phase of the project, which began in 2024. At that time, the League’s experts developed a methodological guide entitled ‘Indicators of Compliance with the Rights of People with Disabilities in the Context of Ukraine’s European Integration’, which contains a system of indicators and practical tools for assessing how the state fulfils its obligations to ensure the rights of people with disabilities. It can be viewed at the following link:
It is this methodology that will form the basis for the work of the participating organisations. “The League of the Strong” will provide expert support for the monitoring activities, bring together organisations from different regions with diverse thematic expertise, and help transform local experience and the data collected into evidence for systemic change and recommendations for the authorities.
The project aims not only to produce an independent report, but also to establish a sustainable mechanism for collecting data on the observance of the rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine. Joint monitoring will help to identify systemic problems in a timely manner, formulate well-founded recommendations for public authorities, and assess how the necessary changes are being implemented. In the future, this will enable information to be gathered more quickly and effectively for subsequent independent reports and will strengthen advocacy at national and international levels.
Previously, with the involvement of “The League of the Strong”, the European Disability Forum developed a guide for organisations of people with disabilities, which summarises the key steps that can help countries fulfil their obligations regarding disability as they work towards EU membership. Here it is: