Welcome to Ukraine

Ukraine ratified UNCRPD in February 4 2010. Ukraine had adopted a number of important legal acts to improve the disability policy, and to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. 2.7 million people in Ukraine (6%) were reported having a disability in 2014. This number did not include the (reportedly) 1.5% of people with temporary disabilities. In 2014, 35% of people aged 60–70 had some age-related disability. For people aged over 80 years, this number grew to 50%.

Because most Ukrainian cities are not accessible for persons with disabilities, making it nearly difficult for people with with disabilities to go outside, many foreigners mistakenly consider Ukraine a nation without persons with disabilities. The situation with the rights of people with disabilities also deteriorates because of the warfare in Donbas, which was a region with the highest percent of people with disabilities in Ukraine even before the invasion of Russia.

The legal base for protection of people with disabilities in Ukraine is provided by the UN Convention on the Rights. As for now, the Convention is a part of the Ukrainian legislation, so it gives an opportunity to strengthen the legal protection of people in the areas of inclusive education, the accessibility of architecture, transportation, medicine, and information. However, the first state report to the UN Committee, held in September 2015 in Geneva, showed that Ukrainian government can hardly handle disability issues alone. Although the lack of infrastructure for people with disabilities is often associated with poor funding, experts agree that a set of effective measures that would make Ukrainian cities more disability friendly does not require large investments.