06.12.2021
Faculty, staff and students with special needs of NURE took part in the Week of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, held by the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine from November 29 to December 5, 2021. This year it was held under the slogan “National Partnership – Concerted Accessibility”.
This year’s theme “National Partnership – Concerted Accessibility” expands the approach to disability issues, provides an opportunity to once again emphasize the interests of men and women, children and youth with disabilities at local and national levels, draws attention to the priority issues of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following events took place.
Information session on presentation of the results of accessibility audits of 45 objects in 15 regions of Ukraine, of which 38 objects of “Big Construction”.
According to the results of audits of accessibility facilities, including hospitals, medical outpatient clinics, kindergartens, even a sports complex and a library, about 85% do not fully meet the requirements of the DBS. Among the systemic violations can be highlighted as providing information accessibility for people with visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, problematic entrances to buildings, lack of parking, erroneous color solutions, etc.
But there are also positive aspects, when representatives of government agencies are ready for active cooperation, interested to involve professional experts, representatives of the SAI to the process of accessibility audits on an ongoing basis to create appropriate accessibility conditions, contractors listen to the advice and make efforts to eliminate existing violations. Also availability of comfortable elevators in some facilities, modern medical equipment, arrangement of restrooms. Unfortunately, some of the comments that were provided during the audits were not taken into account, in particular, concerning the thresholds, steps, etc.
Taking into account the results of conducted audits, the participants of the event also identified the problematic aspects of the current situation of creating accessibility and ways of solving them.
Round table “Consideration of needs and interests of women with disabilities, women raising children with disabilities in programs and activities aimed at overcoming the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences”.
On November 30, the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPDU) presented the results of a survey of women, men with disabilities, women raising children with disabilities about the impact of COVID-19 on their lives.
The survey was conducted in 13 pilot communities as part of the project “The Rights of Women with Disabilities in Decentralization”, implemented by the NAPDU with the support of UN Women as part of the project “Promoting Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women in Decentralization Reform in Ukraine,” with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The results of the study show that the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictive measures have further increased the vulnerability of women and men with disabilities caused by limited access to medical services, social security, education, rehabilitation, employment, etc. Thereby increasing their discrimination. Many forms of discrimination remain “invisible” against women with disabilities and are not addressed at the level of programs/plans to combat COVID-19.
Based on the results of this study, recommendations are made to local governments to improve access to services for women with disabilities during the pandemic.
Information session “Information Accessibility. State guarantees for people with disabilities.
Purpose of event: raising awareness of people with disabilities regarding certain types of guarantees, benefits and services established by legislation for people with disabilities and children with disabilities and their families.
During the event there was presented the “Handbook of some types of guarantees, benefits and services established by law for persons with disabilities, children with disabilities and their families”, developed by the NAPDU within the “National Partnership – harmonized accessibility” program.
Barrier-Free Higher Education. Inclusion in higher education and support for students with disabilities.
The events were attended by representatives of government agencies, international organizations, civil society organizations and academia.