From “red barriers” to “green light”: equal opportunities in the digital space of Poltava   

A round table discussion was held on “Equal opportunities: ensuring information and digital accessibility for people with visual impairments to receive humanitarian aid in the Poltava OTG.” The event was a key stage in the advocacy campaign “Humanitarian aid: everyone has the right to protection,” which is being implemented as part of the project “Strengthening the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities during humanitarian response and recovery in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”

This was reported on the Facebook page of the Poltava Regional Organization of the Ukrainian Society of the Blind.

The joint dialogue was attended by the heads of departments of the Poltava City Council, the chair of the Council of Internally Displaced Persons at the Poltava City Council, as well as representatives of the public sector: the charitable foundations “Stabilization Ukraine Unit” and “Civilization,” the Red Cross Society of Ukraine, the charitable organization “Light of Hope,” Crimea SOS, the city organization of persons with disabilities VIRA, the Poltava regional organization of the Ukrainian Society of the Blind, the organization Poltava Down Syndrome, the Union of Active Women Vulyk, and others.

The event was moderated by Marina Babets, coordinator of the advocacy campaign in the Poltava OTG, chair of the board of the Poltava Regional Organization of UTOG, and head of the separate division of the All-Ukrainian Organization of People with Visual Disabilities “Generation of Successful Action” in the Poltava region.

The participation of the community itself was extremely important for the organizers. A large number of representatives of the Poltava Regional Organization of UTOOS, as well as the separate division of the All-Ukrainian Organization of People with Visual Disabilities “Generation of Successful Action” in the Poltava region, were present in the hall. It was their expert opinion that formed the basis of the meeting. Their representatives highlighted the basic problems of blind users in the digital space. Vyacheslav Morgul, Alla Shartdinova, Tetyana Aleksandrova, and Svitlana Yatsyuk shared their personal cases.

The campaign coordinator presented a report on the results of the study. “We analyzed the ‘red barriers’ in detail and jointly developed ways to transform them into ‘green zones’ of digital accessibility,” says Marina Babets. Viktoria Miroshnychenko, head of the service development department at the Light of Hope Charitable Organization, proposed a strategic solution: to map humanitarian actors in the Poltava City Council and recommend that organizations designate a person responsible for providing timely and up-to-date information. This will allow for the creation of a reliable information section on the PMR website for quick orientation of residents.

City Council representative Oleksiy Burlaka confirmed his readiness to work on the accessibility of official community resources.

The main outcome of the meeting was a resolution that was officially submitted and registered with the Poltava City Council. “This is our joint step towards creating a barrier-free community. Now we are looking forward to the implementation of the decisions we have made!” said Marina Babets.

​The project “Strengthening the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities during humanitarian response and recovery in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” is being implemented by the NAPD within the framework of a grant from the International Disability Alliance (IDA). International Disability Alliance (IDA)