Research "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities in Ukraine" (Eng)

We are pleased to present the second report based on an in-depth study of the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in Ukraine. The research findings presented in this document are based on the views of more than 300 persons with disabilities on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their daily lives. At the same time, the report does not address the impact of the war in Ukraine on people with disabilities, as we were in the final stages of the project when Russia launched a large-scale military offensive against Ukraine and its people on February 24, 2022.

The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities notes that "there is no such thing as an inherently vulnerable person, but only persons with disabilities who find themselves in vulnerable circumstances" (UN General Assembly 2021, § 16). Our research shows that the lives of people with disabilities in Ukraine consisted of a wide range of such "vulnerable situations" even before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons with disabilities and people in need of humanitarian assistance (as a result of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine in 2014) faced additional socio-economic hardships and difficulties related to, among other things, access to housing, healthcare, various services, etc. COVID-19, together with political and economic measures in response to the pandemic, have significantly increased the scale of the crisis.

The second Report focuses on the views of people with disabilities. Our participants gave their time and participated in the research to increase public understanding of the problems faced by people with disabilities and in the hope of bringing about the significant changes that our research shows are still lacking. We hope that the readers of this report, and above all those with the power to initiate such change, will demonstrate and commit to listening, understanding and responding.

The uniqueness and originality of our study lies in three aspects

First, this research project based on a truly broad approach. The study was developed and conducted jointly with people with disabilities in Ukraine and their organizations. They participated in the development of the research methodology, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of the project results. Dialogue remained a key underlying principle for everyone involved in our project. It allowed us to combine different stories and formulate new perspectives. It also gave us the opportunity to engage the powerful and moving voices of our participants in conversations about fundamental issues of belonging, recognition, equality, and sustainability. Secondly, the project used several methods of collecting research dataThis included a survey of organizations of people with disabilities, interviews with people with disabilities, and a series of household diaries. This helped to create a sense of ownership and engagement among our participants, and provided a greater understanding of the situation of people with disabilities in Ukraine. As far as we know, this is the first project in Ukraine to target people with physical, intellectual, and sensory disabilities and their organizations at the national level, using methodological approaches used in the social sciences and humanities. Third, our project is conceived as inclusive and emancipatory. Building on the principle of collaborative dialogue, we sought to better understand how the COVID-19 and pandemic response exacerbates existing and generates new injustices and inequalities against persons with disabilities, and how these can be addressed. The main goal was to ensure that rigorous empirical research (conducted in the specific context of the COVID-19 realities) supports existing and helps to develop new policy strategies for disability activism in Ukraine.

Conceptually, this study approached the response of Ukrainian authorities to the pandemic as a "mirror" that helped to better see the daily lives of people with disabilities in Ukraine and to learn what and how to do differently in the context of emergencies, including health emergencies.

The pandemic has shaken and disrupted the understanding of personal space and time for almost everyone around the world. It has exposed, reinforced, and reconfigured existing inequalities and injustices in accessibility and mobility. This is especially true for people with disabilities, for whom the process of everyday abandonment by the state transforms impairment into disability and everyday disadvantage.

Our findings through the lens of "COVID-19 as a mirror" presented in both parts of the project's activity report present a picture of the entrenched economic and social disadvantages faced by people with disabilities in Ukraine. These limitations have been shaped by discriminatory inequalities based on gender, age, place of residence, displacement, and socioeconomic status, which have been exacerbated rather than caused by the pandemic.

It is fair to assume that the war and all the violence and destruction it has brought over the past year has significantly exacerbated such inequalities and limitations among persons with disabilities. As a project team, we do not believe we have any ethical authority to make sweeping recommendations at this time and in this context. Instead, we have formulated a series of "Questions for Further Discussion" for each key topic addressed in this report. These questions are presented at the end of the report. We propose that they serve as the basis for action agendas for all institutions, including state authorities in Ukraine and the growing number of international governmental and private donors, to support the people of Ukraine in ways that place disability mainstreaming, human rights and equity at the forefront.

We also call for specific support and funding for research on the impact of the war on persons with disabilities in Ukraine. It is crucial that such research is conducted in partnership and in dialogue with persons with disabilities and their organizations. We hope and call for such research to be guided not by politics and the needs of humanitarian aid programs, but by an ethic of dialogue, recognition, understanding and hope for positive change.

Report "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities in Ukraine"

We are presenting the second report based on an in-depth study of the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities in Ukraine. The research findings presented in this report focus on the views of more than 300 persons with disabilities in Ukraine on how the pandemic has affected their daily lives. The report does not cover the impact of the war in Ukraine: we were in the final stages of completing the project when Russia launched a large-scale military attack on Ukraine and its people on February 24, 2022.

In his recent Report on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Gerard Quinn, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, noted that there is 'no such thing as an inherently vulnerable person, but only persons with disabilities placed in vulnerable situations'. Our research suggests that a wide range of 'vulnerable situations' shaped the lived experiences of persons with disabilities in Ukraine before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons with disabilities and those in need of humanitarian assistance (as a result of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine in 2014) faced an additional layer of socio-economic vulnerabilities impeding their access to housing, healthcare and social services. COVID-19 and the political and economic responses to the pandemic have amplified both the volume and scale of such vulnerable situations.

In our second report, we place the voices of persons with disabilities center stage; our participants offered their time, dedication, and participation in a service of public awareness, care, and change that, as our research suggests, remains in short supply. We hope that the readers of this report, and in particular those in positions of authority, will bear witness and be called to commitment-to connect, to hear, and to respond.

The uniqueness and originality of this research is threefold.

Report "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities in Ukraine"

Firstly, this research project was based on a truly participatory approach. The research was designed and conducted together with persons with disabilities in Ukraine and their organizations. They were involved in the design of the research methodology, collection of the data, analysis and dissemination of the project results. Dialogue remained a key foundational principle for everyone involved in this project. It allowed for different stories to come together, become entangled and spark up new thoughts. It also allowed us to bring the powerful and moving voices of our participants into conversations about fundamental questions of belonging, recognition, equality, and resilience. Secondly, the project involved a range of data collection methods, including a survey of organizations of persons with disabilities, interviews with persons with disabilities, and a series of household diaries. This helped to create a sense of ownership and inclusion, and delivered a greater level of insight. To our knowledge, this is the first ever project in Ukraine that meaningfully engaged with persons with physical, mental, intellectual and sensory disabilities and their organizations at the national level by drawing on methodological approaches in social sciences and arts and humanities. Finally, our project was conceived as both inclusive and emancipatory. By relying on dialogue to work together, we aimed to better understand how COVID-19 and pandemic responses have amplified existing and generated new sets of injustices and inequalities for persons with disabilities, and how they could be challenged and resisted. The key objective was to ensure that rigorous empirical research (conducted in the very specific context of COVID-19 realities) would support existing and help develop new policy strategies for disability activism in Ukraine.

The research was designed and conducted together with persons with disabilities in Ukraine and their organizations. They were involved in the design of the research methodology, collection of the data, analysis and dissemination of the project results. Dialogue remained a key foundational principle for everyone involved in this project. It allowed for different stories to come together, become entangled and spark up new thoughts. It also allowed us to bring the powerful and moving voices of our participants into conversations about fundamental questions of belonging, recognition, equality, and resilience.

Secondly, the project involved a range of data collection methods, including a survey of organizations of persons with disabilities, interviews with persons with disabilities, and a series of household diaries. This helped to create a sense of ownership and inclusion, and delivered a greater level of insight. To our knowledge, this is the first ever project in Ukraine that meaningfully engaged with persons with physical, mental, intellectual and sensory disabilities and their organizations at the national level by drawing on methodological approaches in social sciences and arts and humanities.

Finally, our project was conceived as both inclusive and emancipatory. By relying on dialogue to work together, we aimed to better understand how COVID-19 and pandemic responses have amplified existing and generated new sets of injustices and inequalities for persons with disabilities, and how they could be challenged and resisted. The key objective was to ensure that rigorous empirical research (conducted in the very specific context of COVID-19 realities) would support existing and help develop new policy strategies for disability activism in Ukraine.

Conceptually, this research approached COVID-19 and the Ukrainian authorities' response to the pandemic as a proxy, or a magnifying glass, to better understand the everyday life of persons with disabilities in Ukraine, and to explore how things could and should be done differently in the context of public health or other emergencies. The pandemic has unsettled and disrupted the meanings of personal space and time for virtually everyone around the world; it has unmasked, reinforced and reconfigured existing inequalities, cascading them into further injustices of (im)mobility and access. This is especially true for persons with disabilities, for whom the process of everyday abandonment by the state transforms impairment into disability and the everyday life experience of disability and disadvantage.

Our 'COVID-19 as a looking glass' findings paint a picture of entrenched economic and social deprivation experienced by people with disabilities in Ukraine, patterned by the intersecting and reinforcing inequalities of gender, age, locality, displacement, and socio-economic status, and exacerbated rather than created by the pandemic.

We know that war and all the violence and devastation it has brought over the past year has made these inequalities and deprivations much worse. As a project team, we do not feel we have any ethical authority to make wide-ranging recommendations at this time and in this context. Instead, we have formulated a series of 'Guiding Questions' for each key topic that this report considers by placing them within the context of 'public health and other emergencies including conflict and post-conflict recovery'. These questions are presented at the end of the report. We suggest that they inform all responses by any agency, including public authorities in Ukraine and the increasing number of international public and private donors, in supporting the people of Ukraine in a way that foregrounds disability, human rights and justice.

We also call for dedicated support and funding to investigate and document the impact of war on persons with disabilities in Ukraine. It is essential that any research into the impact of war on persons with disabilities in Ukraine is undertaken in partnership and in dialogue with persons with disabilities and their organizations. We hope and call for such research to be guided less by the politics and exigencies of humanitarian assistance and aid delivery, and more by the ethics of dialogue, encounter, recognition and hope for change.