Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, participated in a significant meeting of the barrier-free ambassador community. This event attracted over 70 participants from various sectors, including business and public institutions.
“Five years ago, when we initiated this topic in Ukraine, most people thought barrier-free meant only physical obstacles, like ramps. Over time, we have learned that barrier-free encompasses many other aspects: social, economic, digital, and educational. These six areas became the foundation of our strategy,” said the President's wife.
Zelenska noted that programs addressing physical accessibility in cities have been launched, and collaboration with major employers continues through the initiative “Business Without Barriers.” The interactive “Barrier-Free Guide” assists people in understanding how to communicate correctly with different population groups.
“Today's meeting is part of the All-Ukrainian campaign “Barrier-Free Means Opportunities.” Everyone needs to realize that barrier-free is not just about someone else; it's about their own needs,” added the First Lady.
As part of the initiative, ambassadors for barrier-free have been appointed to represent flagship projects from various ministries to enhance inter-agency cooperation and implement barrier-free principles across all areas of life.
Participants engaged in training on the basics of barrier-free from the NGO “Barrier-Free” and developed project implementation plans for their communities. These are concrete steps they plan to take by the end of the year to make communities more accessible, such as monitoring the accessibility of public spaces and businesses and creating maps of accessible locations.
Social and civic barrier-free includes advocacy for the establishment of barrier-free councils and training for specialists working with veterans and people with disabilities.
In the field of educational barrier-free, work is planned with teachers, parents, and students, as well as informing people with disabilities about their educational rights.
Additionally, in the area of informational barrier-free, ambassadors are planning to conduct audits of information accessibility.
