On 11 December, the final meeting of the Barrier-Free Council in 2023 took place with the participation of the First Lady of Ukraine Ms Olena Zelenska and under chairmanship of the Prime Minister Mr Denys Shmyhal. The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Mr Ruslan Stefanchuk and heads of the Parliament specialized committees, ministers, representatives of the judiciary and the Central Election Commission, international organisations, ambassadors of the European Union and Canada, heads of regional military administrations, and representatives of civil society. The Head of the Office of the Council of Europe in Ukraine Maciej Janczak also joined the event.

During the meeting, the results of the flagship projects’ implementation of the ministries on the creation of the barrier-free environment in Ukraine were presented, as well as plans and priorities for the next year were defined. Among them, in particular:

• barrier-free educational, medical, banking, transport, social, administrative, employment and other services, which should be more convenient and accessible on every stage for their user, taking into account the needs of each person;
• barrier-free communities — implementation of solutions developed by the Government at the level of local self-government. The possibility for people to receive barrier-free services in their community should become a mandatory element of the implementation of barrier-free policies in the cities and villages.

Ms Olena Zelenska noted that being at the second year of the full-scale war, Ukrainians feel an even greater demand for barrier-free solutions. Today, not only the quality of life, but also the safety of communities depends on this. "You can say "there is a war, what do you want. There have been more barriers - both physical, with movement and accessibility, and economic - unemployment, and social - a big burden on everyone in general". But this is not an argument. Because every life is valuable. And its quality matters. We do not choose the times in which we live, but we can fight," said Ms Olena Zelenska.

"Barrier-free environment today is an urgent necessity for millions of Ukrainians. For people of different age groups, professions, and social backgrounds. We pay particular attention to the needs of our defenders. Our duty is to remove all obstacles for them that prevent adaptation, rehabilitation and self-realization. We are also strengthening cooperation with local self-government bodies since the final result depends on them," mentioned Prime Minister of Ukraine Mr Denys Shmyhal.

Maciej Janszak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, outlined the work carried out within the framework of the project "Enhanced social protection in Ukraine" for the implementation of the National Strategy for the Creation of the Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine and shared the plans for the next year. “The National Strategy for the Creation of the Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine is not a mere set of words for the Council of Europe. It lays down the principles enshrined in the European Social Charter. The Strategy was elaborated with the Council of Europe expert support in 2021. Now the Council of Europe continues to support its implementation through systemic Action plans monitoring and communication of the findings. In 2024 we plan to continue to cooperate closely with the Adviser-Commissioner of the President of Ukraine on Barrier Free Environment to communicate the philosophy of changes laid down by the Strategy at the level of communities so that the actual meaning of the Strategy and its principles is clear and the provided services at the level of hromadas are barrier-free and built around people needs. Thus, we will continue our support for further successful implementation of reform of the barrier-free environment in Ukraine. We fully understand its priority meaning for the Ukrainian society nowadays”, stated Mr Maciej Janszak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.

The National Strategy for the Creation a Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine by 2030 was initiated by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. The Strategy is aimed at creating physical, information, digital, social and civil, economic and educational barrier-free environment for people from all groups of the society. The Council of Europe project "Enhanced social protection in Ukraine" provides support in the implementation of the National Strategy for the creation of a barrier-free environment in Ukraine by 2030; in particular, expert support for monitoring the implementation of its Action Plans.