On May 20, the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program organized an online presentation "How to Make the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Accessible for People with Limited Mobility and Why an Accessibility Audit is Needed?" attended by more than 30 representatives of the VRU Committees and Secretariat.
The program helps to develop the accessibility of virtual and physical facilities of the Ukrainian parliament and legislative processes for people with disabilities. In particular, it plans to audit the physical accessibility of the Verkhovna Rada buildings.
"Physical accessibility is about creating an environment in which public buildings and public places, transportation and services are physically accessible to all social groups. The Verkhovna Rada should be a barrier-free institution both for those who work there and for visitors, because barrier-free is about respect, human dignity and creating equal opportunities for all," said Tetyana Bibik, Deputy Director of the RADA: Next Generation Program.
In his welcoming remarks, the Secretary General of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Shtuchnyi, emphasized that in this matter, the Parliament "should not catch up, but be ahead": "Barrier-free accessibility should be a priority, and we must ensure accessibility in all our buildings. We also have to understand that Ukraine is at war and the next parliament will have at least ten MPs with various disabilities. We must provide jobs for them."
Halyna Tretyakova, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Veterans' Rights, also noted that barrier-free access "should be not only for MPs, but also for visitors to the parliament. We have to show this culture to the whole society. Therefore, I am very grateful to our partners for their intention to conduct an audit and hope that the Verkhovna Rada will find funds for these expenses."
Invited experts from the NGO "League of the Strong" told the participants in detail how a physical accessibility audit can help eliminate barriers and create convenient conditions for movement and navigation for both VRU staff and visitors to the Parliament and committees.
This is the second meeting that the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program is holding in this area of work. Earlier, the Program organized an online presentation "How to Make the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine's Web Resources Barrier-Free and Inclusive."