Seminar on Rights of People with Disabilities Held in Kharkiv

The event was attended by over 20 representatives of civil organizations from Kharkiv (Civil Alternative, Right to Defense, Foundation of Regional Initiatives etc.), Cherkassy and from Belarus (representatives of regional branches of the HRC Viasna from Maladzechna, Hrodna, Mazyr and Svetlahorsk).

The seminar was organized by the Civil Alternative organization with Viasna within the joint project “Human rights organizations in Ukraine and Belarus - for defending public interests together!”

The trainers Maria Yasenovska and Ihar Shramko told about methods and specific of holding advocacy campaigns to defend the rights of people with disabilities. There was a detailed discussion about barrier-free environment for people in wheelchairs and for the blind.

The organizers of the seminar hope to put the knowledge to practice in their further work: there will be a monitoring of accessibility in Kharkiv for the barrier-free environment; the results of the monitoring and advocacy are expected to come out in autumn, during the Week of Accessibility. Regional branches of Viasna will use the knowledge in their work with the public in their towns and cooperate with specialized local organizations promoting the rights of people with disabilities.