The year of Ukraine's resilience and struggle.
A year of pain and loss of relatives and strangers who died defending our country.
A year of grief for the destroyed towns and villages.
A year of painstaking daily work to help people with disabilities and the elderly.
A year of uniting the efforts of many ordinary people and countries for the victory of Ukraine.
A year of pride for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine!
A year of faith in the victory and restoration of our country, the return of Ukrainians with disabilities home.
The war today continues to destroy the lives of many people.
People with disabilities and the elderly continue to lose their homes and are forced to seek shelter; they need medical and social assistance; financial support, and sometimes just a conversation to be heard and listened to. Some of them have lost their loved ones and do not understand how to go on living, where to return to if the house they lived in is gone.
Since the first days of the war, the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine, which unites more than 100 organizations of people with disabilities from different regions of Ukraine, has been working to help women and men with disabilities, parents raising people with disabilities, and the elderly:
- provides food, personal care products, financial assistance, legal and psychological counseling;
- created temporary accommodation centers for people with disabilities on the basis of NAIU member organizations, which are adapted for people with limited mobility, and conducts rehabilitation activities for the victims;
- deals with the evacuation and return home of Ukrainians with disabilities;
- advocates for and represents the interests of persons with disabilities in national and local working groups to improve the provision of humanitarian assistance to persons with disabilities and to include disability issues in recovery processes;
- supports the organizational capacity of public organizations of people with disabilities, which perform a significant part of the state's social responsibilities to help Ukrainians with disabilities, understanding that their work is a contribution to a common victory.
I would like to thank all our international and Ukrainian partners, European and international organizations of people with disabilities, and citizens from different countries for their help and support.
We appreciate it and will always remember it. Your support and assistance has enabled many people with disabilities, families with children with disabilities and the elderly to survive the war.
At the same time, Ukrainian NGOs of persons with disabilities have gained invaluable experience in rapid response to humanitarian situations, including evacuation, cash payments, food aid, shelter, access to medical care, work in institutionalized settings in wartime, work with children and youth with disabilities, socialization of war victims, and others. Our experience can be used by the international humanitarian community and public organizations of persons with disabilities to further advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in risk situations, armed conflicts, and humanitarian emergencies.
We have a victory ahead of us and a long way to go to rebuild our country. And today we are thinking about the inclusion of disability issues in all national and international plans and strategies; about the contribution of public organizations of people with disabilities to these processes.
We look forward to understanding the importance of these issues and cooperating with state and international institutions in resolving them.
Secretariat of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine
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National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine. One Year of War.
A year of invincibility and struggle of Ukraine.
A year of pain and loss of relatives and the unknown people who died defending our country.
A year of sadness for the destroyed cities and villages.
A year of hard, painful daily work to help people with disabilities and the elderly.
A year of uniting efforts of many ordinary people and the countries of the world for the victory of Ukraine.
A year of pride for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the state of Ukraine!
A year of faith in the victory and renovation of our country and in the return of Ukrainians with disabilities home.
The war is still destroying the lives of many people today.
People with disabilities and the elderly are still losing their homes and are forced to seek shelter; they need medical and social support, financial support, and sometimes just a conversation to be attended and heard. Some of them have lost their loved ones and do not understand how to live on and where to come back if the homes they lived in do not exist anymore.
Since the first days of the war, the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine, uniting more than 100 organizations of people with disabilities from different regions of Ukraine, has been working to help women and men with disabilities, parents raising children with disabilities, and elderly people, by:
- providing food, individual hygiene products, and financial support, legal and psychological counseling;
- having created, on the basis of the NAPD member organizations, Centers for temporary stay for people with disabilities that are adapted to people with low mobility and that offer rehabilitation services to the affected people;
- addressing the issues of evacuation and return of Ukrainians with disabilities home;
- advocating and representing the interests of persons with disabilities in national and local working groups to improve the provision of humanitarian assistance to people with disabilities and disability inclusion in renovation processes;
- supporting the institutional capacity of public organizations of people with disabilities who fulfill a significant part of the social obligations of the state to deliver aid to Ukrainians with disabilities and who realize that their work is their contribution to the common victory.
We would like to thank all of our international and Ukrainian partners, European and international organizations of people with disabilities, and citizens in various countries for their help and support.
We deeply appreciate and we will always remember it. Your support and assistance have enabled many people with disabilities, families raising children with disabilities, and elderly people to survive in the war.
At the same time, Ukrainian public organizations of people with disabilities have gained the invaluable experience in fast humanitarian response, evacuation procedures, provision of cash payments, delivery of food aid, creation of shelters, access to medical care, operation of boarding institutions in wartime, work with children and youth with disabilities, socialization of the affected individuals in a time of war, and other areas. The international humanitarian community and public organizations of people with disabilities can use our experience to further advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, armed conflicts, and humanitarian emergencies.
We have a victory ahead and a long way to rebuild our country. Today we are thinking how to ensure disability inclusion in all national and international plans and strategies and how public organizations of people with disabilities can contribute to these processes.
We hope for understanding of the importance of these issues and cooperation with state and international institutions to resolve them.
The Secretariat of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine
