First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska took part in the first meeting of the Community of Ambassadors for Barrier-Free Accessibility, which brought together more than 70 representatives of communities, businesses, government institutions, and the public sector.
“Just five years ago, when we first began working on this issue in Ukraine, most Ukrainians said that barrier-free accessibility was ‘something about ramps,’ because they understood barriers literally, as purely physical obstacles. And for several years we had to explain that, beyond the physical dimension, barrier-free accessibility also includes social, economic, educational, digital, and informational dimensions. In fact, these six key areas later became the foundation of the government’s barrier-free environment strategy,” the First Lady said.
According to Olena Zelenska, in the physical dimension, a program of barrier-free routes in cities has already been launched. In the social and economic dimensions, cooperation continues with major national employers – members of the Business Without Barriers community. The interactive Barrier-Free Handbook, which is continuously updated with new terms and insights, serves as a practical tool designed to help people better understand the principles of barrier-free accessibility and communicate respectfully and inclusively with different groups of society.
“Today, our meeting is taking place within the framework of the nationwide campaign ‘Barrier-Free Means When You Can.’ I really like this title, because that’s exactly about opportunities. Everyone you engage with should feel that barrier-free accessibility is not about someone else, but about them – about their needs,” the First Lady noted.
As part of the initiative, ambassadors for barrier-free accessibility were appointed to represent flagship projects of ministries and other government institutions – to strengthen interagency cooperation and promote the principles of barrier-free environment in all areas of life.
The participants also took part in a training session on the basics of barrier-free accessibility, conducted by the NGO Barrier-Free, and developed individual project implementation plans for their own communities. These are concrete steps to be implemented by the end of the year to make communities more accessible for everyone – for example, monitoring public spaces and businesses for physical accessibility, creating maps of accessible locations, and promoting the requirements of the State Building Codes.
Social and civic accessibility efforts include advocacy for establishing accessibility councils and training for specialists working with veterans and people with disabilities.
In the field of educational accessibility, it is planned to work with teachers, parents, and students, as well as raise awareness among people with disabilities about their educational rights.
In the area of informational accessibility, ambassadors plan to conduct audits of information accessibility.