Olena Zelenska: Barrier-free environment becomes new social norm

Barrier-free environment becomes a new social norm, and Ukraine becomes a country where everyone has equal rights and opportunities.

"Barrier-free environment becomes a new social norm. The changes initiated by the Council of Barrier-Free Environment concern not only people who have to face various barriers in their lives. These changes are primarily about what kind of country we aspire to be. A country where everyone has equal rights and opportunities. A country without barriers," First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska said at the first meeting of the Council of Barrier-Free Environment which was established to monitor and control the implementation of the National Strategy for Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine until 2030.

The meeting chaired by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal considered the priority initiatives from ministries in each of the six areas of the barrier-free environment which will be included in the action plan for 2021-2022 to implement the National Strategy.

"Together, we must form a clear step-by-step action plan and identify priorities for each area of barrier-free environment that need to be implemented first. Specific ways of overcoming all barriers that exist in Ukraine will be formed," Shmyhal said.

The First Lady stressed the importance of drafting the action plan, supporting the National Strategy at all levels of government, and the active involvement of relevant ministries. All the proposals of the ministries that are planned to be implemented as a priority are a list of barrier-free changes to take place in Ukraine in the next two years. These are concrete steps on which the government plans to focus, Zelenska said.

Fifteen ministries, 47 NGOs and think tanks were involved in drafting the action plan for the implementation of the National Strategy for Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine, by submitting more than 250 proposals.