UNDP supports the development of the National Strategy on Barrier-free Ukraine, with UNDP experts on human rights and inclusiveness being engaged in its development

Kyiv, 12 March 2021 – A draft of the National Strategy on Barrier-free Ukraine is now available for public discussion, the document having been drawn up by an intersectoral working group of the Cabinet of Ministers at the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska.

The document includes recommendations from representatives of the Government, civil society, and international organizations, including UNDP experts. A draft of the Strategy has already been published for public discussion, which will last until 24 March 2021.   

Development of the National Strategy on Barrier-free Ukraine was initiated in December 2020 by First Lady Olena Zelenska, and by a presidential decree.

More than 230 experts from all over Ukraine have been engaged in developing the draft National Strategy for a Barrier-free Ukraine, working under six thematic groups covering a range of areas from the physical to the digital.

The draft of the Strategy envisages a comprehensive approach to building a barrier-free Ukraine for everyone, taking into account the interests of all social groups, including young people, the parents of children under the age of six, children and adults with disabilities, and elderly people. The ultimate goal of the strategy is to make barrier-free principles a new social norm.

See the draft project of the National Strategy on Barrier-free Ukraine here: https://cutt.ly/dzESyFb

Send your suggestions and comments before 24 March either by:

·        completing this form https://cutt.ly/vzncCfo

·        by email: filonychkv@minregion.gov.ua

·        or by post: 01601, Kyiv, 9 Velyka Zhytomyrska, Department of the architecture and spatial planning of territories, Ministry of Communities and Territorial Development of Ukraine.   

Finalized and approved by all line state institutions, the document will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for review and approval. A meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers to approve the strategy has been scheduled for mid-April 2021.

Background information:

Analytical and technical support for the creation of the draft was provided by the "Ednannia" Initiative Centre to Support Social Action and the civil society organization “Barrierfree,” supported by UNDP Ukraine’s Human Rights for Ukraine project, which is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

Media enquires:

Yuliia Samus, UNDP in Ukraine Communications Team Leader, yuliia.samus@undp.org