The Ministry of Development has conducted a large-scale monitoring of barrier-free accessibility: only 20% of facilities are accessible to people with disabilities

In 2024, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine conducted a large-scale monitoring of the accessibility of buildings, facilities and services for people with disabilities. For the first time, the monitoring included a survey of the condition of streets, public transport stops, and amenities. Only 20% of the facilities were found to be barrier-free, UNN reports.

"This year, 93 thousand facilities were inspected, which is a significant increase compared to last year, when about 54 thousand were inspected.

The overall monitoring results show that 20% of facilities are barrier-free. Healthcare facilities have the best barrier-free rate - 43% barrier-free, administrative service centers - 41% barrier-free, and banks - 36% barrier-free," the Ministry said in a Facebook post  .

The monitoring also covered streets, roads, public transport stops, and landscaping facilities. Only 22% of these facilities meet barrier-free standards. The best results were recorded at:

• public transport stops - 28% of accessibility,
• streets leading to hospitals - 25% of accessibility.

At the same time, pedestrian paths on main streets are only 16% barrier-free, which indicates the need for significant improvement.

The regions with the highest level of barrier-free accessibility include Zakarpattia, Chernivtsi, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Rivne, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions.

They are followed by Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy, and Sumy regions and the city of Kyiv.

"Such large-scale monitoring allows us to get a real picture of the accessibility of the environment for all citizens, especially for people with disabilities and people with limited mobility," the ministry said.

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Earlier, UNN reported that the Brovary territorial community is implementing a four-year program to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities and other low-mobility groups. In addition to installing lifts in residential buildings, the program covers accessibility of public institutions. In particular, to employ people with disabilities, the state program can allocate funds for workplace arrangement - up to UAH 100,000 per institution. The city program is also aimed at creating a barrier-free environment in institutions and public places, which will improve the quality of life of people with limited mobility in Brovary.

Olena Akopian, an advisor to the mayor of Brovary, told UNN that all public institutions in Brovary are accessible to people with disabilities. All major shopping centers are equipped with ramps, elevators, and hygiene rooms for people with disabilities. Various commercial establishments and organizations have begun to seek consultations more often to properly equip or redesign their entrances to make them accessible to people with disabilities.