The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by Ukraine in 2009 and its subsequent implementation into national legislation and administrative practice allowed Ukraine to make a significant step towards new approaches to policy making concerning persons with disabilities, ensuring their rights and recognition as full members of society.

 

At the same time, day-to-day realities of ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities demonstrate a number of serious problems.

 

"The problem of non-compliance with rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities became particularly acute in connection with the tragic events in our country," Mr. Kryklyvenko underlined in his speech.

 

The report is an assessment of the current situation of the rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine, particularly after the occupation of Crimea and the ongoing armed conflict in the east.

 

"Since the beginning of the conflict, according to various estimates, more than 1.5 million people were displaced within the country, including over 80,000 of persons with disabilities. Around 320,000 of disabled people (including about 20,000 children) who lived in Donetsk and Luhansk regions were trapped in a zone of the armed conflict. According to international observation missions, more than 6,000 were killed and almost 16,000 were wounded in eastern Ukraine. Out of 2,979 wounded servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the Interior Ministry and other security agencies, 925 persons became war invalids, as of 1 July 2015," stated in the report of the Commissioner for Human Rights.

 

The document also highlights that the lack of reliable information impedes the assessment of the extent of losses among disabled people, as well as those who remains in the area of the anti-terrorist operation and on the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are not controlled by the Ukrainian government. The above stated also applies to information on the number of civilians with disability due to injuries located on the uncontrolled territories and in the area of fighting.

 

"Further aggravation of the paramilitary conflict in the east, deterioration of the overall economic and financial situation in Ukraine, increase in poverty among the population cause serious concern about the future of the people, particularly the disabled ones, and the possible humanitarian consequences," Valeria Lutkovska underlines in the alternative report.

 

For more detailed information and download: Alternative Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on the status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities implementation.