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Program of the “Dostupno.UA” NGO
Since 2017, the team has been holding annual Inclusion Forums to work together to increase the level of inclusion in Ukraine.
"Inclusion Forum 2022" is an online event for organizations from all over Ukraine. It is a meeting place for representatives of the public, business, and government to get acquainted, to discuss new projects, challenges, problems and their solutions for Ukraine.
The project’s goal is to promote the development of accessibility, inclusion, and democracy during the recovery period after the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Project objectives:
More than 6% of the population of Ukraine are people with disabilities who are the main beneficiaries of the "Dostupno.UA" NGO.
Since the beginning of the full-scale military invasion of russia on Ukraine, the team "Dostupno.UA" promptly re-shaped their focus areas in order to inform people with disabilities about evacuation, accommodation, humanitarian assistance, employment in Ukraine and abroad, and other issues that may be useful for them. They also planned projects to focus on post-war recovery of Ukraine (“Open Doors” and “Inclusion Forum”).
Presently, some of the occupied territories have already been liberated, and we saw all the destruction that the russian troops left behind. Reconstruction of Ukrainian cities will begin soon (in some regions it has already started). The period of recovery from destruction is critical. It is a chance to build a more accessible and democratic country, where people with limited mobility and disabilities are able to exercise their constitutional rights and participate equally in social and political life of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the changes are currently taking place under the influence of the public, during the dialogue, at joint meetings, where you can have discussions with representatives of different groups of citizens.
The initiative brought together the public, activists, and authorities, where, in the form of a dialogue and reaching agreements, the communication has been established for potentially important steps to promote inclusion and accessibility.
Since the main task was to draw the attention of the public and the authorities to the importance of socialization, and to the self-actualization of people with disabilities, to show examples of how and where this can be done, how the situation can be improved, to focus on the importance of accessibility of shelters and places of temporary stay of IDPs for people with disabilities, the importance of building new infrastructure facilities in accordance with the State Construction Standards – this mission was achieved.
"Now our topic has become even more relevant, because our defenders ensure peace in our territories, so we must provide comfortable and convenient conditions for all who return from the front, as well as for temporarily displaced persons," said Dmytro Shchebetyuk, founder of Dostupno.UA, who opened the first discussion panel of the Inclusion Forum.
The topic for discussion was the state social rehabilitation program for combatants, as well as assistance from the state for civilians who received injuries or disabilities due to the war. The speakers told about the situation with the provision of rehabilitation centers, and shared about how their activities have changed. They also discussed psychological assistance programs for military personnel and for civilians, and how it can be obtained and whether requests for this service are growing.
Among the main issues that were discussed with the speakers were the mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of recovery, which the state has already developed, or plans to do so. They also discussed the reconstruction program and the first steps to restore infrastructure in the de-occupied territories. The speakers talked about whether the new infrastructure will have reliable bomb shelters.
The discussion began with presenting the data previously provided by the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, Oksana Zholnovych. According to the government, only 15% of people with disabilities are employed. As of January, 1, 2022, the number of people with disabilities was 2,703,000. During the conversation, it was said that after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of russia, the number of people with disabilities has significantly grown. In this context, a new challenge has emerged: it is necessary to create opportunities so that people with disabilities can accomplish themselves in the country. In particular, they need to be able to find a job, to receive decent pay, and work in comfortable conditions.
Founder of Dostupno.UA and discussion moderator, Dmytro Shchebetyuk, opened the floor for each speaker to tell about themselves and answer the question “What happened to you?”, which strangers would ask trying to satisfy their curiosity.
People who attended the Inclusion Forum understood who and how to contact in cases when the State Construction Standards are not followed. Now, they have a vector for the future, to understand how to make their communities more accessible in the long term. The topic of inclusion of all population groups, including people with disabilities, is very important. It shall be brought forward on a regular basis, which we did. As a result, the team of "Dostupno.UA" also contacted the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Veteran Affairs, the State Inspectorate for Urban Planning and Architecture, etc., for the state to make changes for inclusion. The initiative managed to consolidate other entities, such as authorities, businesses, and other civil society organizations, in order to change the attitudes of society, to shape an inclusive worldview, and implement an increasing number of projects that will take into account the interests of people with disabilities and other low-mobility groups. In the long term, they will contribute to the more efficient development of democratic processes in Ukraine.
The project’s main target audience can be divided into the following groups:
The relevance of the “inclusion” topic only keeps growing. Once completed, the project will still have an impact on raising awareness of accessibility and inclusion issues, as the information component of the project will be relevant for many years to come. All articles and videos are available. The team also plans to hold similar events in 2023, but in an offline format, if the situation in the country allows for it, which will motivate more and more organizations to join the discussion on accessibility and inclusion and implement even more joint projects.
With the Open Doors Award, “Dostupno.UA” thanked organizations that help people with limited mobility, and tried to motivate others to help and respond quickly to the challenges of our time. This meeting was a good networking – the teams can be more efficient when together.
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