NAIU intensifies European integration of Ukraine

The National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine actively develops international relations, bringing together domestic and international experts and representatives of civil society to effectively represent the interests of people with disabilities. As you know, the protection of the legal rights of people with disabilities is one of the main requirements of our Western partners on the way to Ukraine's accession to the European Union, and therefore the pace of Ukraine's European integration largely depends on the active work of representative organizations.  

Recently, a working meeting was held at the NAIU Resource Center between the Assembly's leadership and representatives of the European Commission, who are studying the state of affairs in respect of the rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine and the implementation of reforms in this area on the way to our country's accession to the European Union. It was agreed that the Assembly's experts would inform about the problems faced by people with disabilities in our country and suggest ways to solve them. 

As you know, one of the commitments that Ukraine has undertaken at all stages of its accession to the EU, from planning to implementation, is to ensure the participation of representative organizations of people with disabilities in all decision-making processes. In practice, this should mean allocating budgetary funds for accessibility and barrier-free access - and not only. 

The reforms developed by the EU candidate countries must comply with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, EU legislation, and the Enlargement Package. This includes, in particular, accessible housing, transportation, public spaces, communications (including information and communication technologies, electronic services, and emergency services and communications), and public infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. It is assumed that the focus on the problems of people with disabilities should be cross-cutting for all areas of reforms when preparing recommendations for the candidate country.    

According to the NAIU experts, it is extremely important that European standards for ensuring the rights of this category of people become part of national public policy. In particular, this refers to Directive 2024/2841/EU on the introduction of a European Identity Card for Persons with Disabilities and a European Parking Card for this category of persons. As you know, the Council of Europe and the EU institutions, in defining the basis of policies for people with disabilities, have established the fundamental principle "Nothing for us without us!", which the NAPD emphasizes.

- Taking into account the conclusions of the European Disability Forum, set out in the report "Disability-inclusive accession process to the European Union: the case of Ukraine", as well as Ukraine's international obligations to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, our Assembly appealed to the state leadership with a proposal to ensure the systematic participation of representatives of organizations of people with disabilities in the development, implementation and monitoring of European integration reforms, - says the Secretary General of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities V. Kulinska. "We are convinced that we will find understanding and support, because our partners from among public organizations of people with disabilities from other countries told us that their countries involved them in similar work, including all groups and clusters. Such work is already underway in our country - the NDPA and other representative organizations are trying to accelerate and intensify it. And the result of their activities will be the rapprochement of Ukraine with Europe, the realization of our Euro-Atlantic aspirations.