Are the rights of people with disabilities are enforced by authorities?  Human rights defenders asked the question in Cherkasy Oblast.

Cherkasy NGO Human Rights Center in cooperation with the NGO “Volunteer of Cherkasy Oblast” has conducted monitoring studies in five cities in Cherkasy Oblast – Chyhyryn, Zvenyhorodka, Korsun-Shevchenko, Kaniv and townships of Lysianka.

Human rights defenders have analyzed enforcement of the human rights of people with disabilities who move with a wheelchair and the work of local authorities in this area.

The study was conducted according to the following issues:

• Access to justice for persons with disabilities;
• Access to education for persons with disabilities;
• Accessibility and availability of transport for people with disabilities;
• Rehabilitation services and provision of social services for people with disabilities;
• Security of benefits;
• Preferential access to drug treatment for people with disabilities.

The study was conducted by visual inspection of infrastructure and analysis of local regulations to determine the presence and effectiveness of local authorities towards ensuring the rights of people with disabilities.

Results of the studies had met the expectations:

• Architectural availability in populated areas is satisfactory. Although almost all the buildings are equipped with ramps, they were made in violation of building codes.
• Web pages of local authorities do not contain information for people with disabilities to receive services mechanisms.
• Locally targeted programs are not adopted to ensure the rights of people with disabilities.
• Local governments (cities and towns) have sufficient powers and resources to ensure the rights of people with disabilities.

The monitoring reports can be found here.

According to human rights defender Taras Shcherbatyuk, human rights monitoring has provided an opportunity to identify major problems and shortcomings at the local level concerning the rights of persons with disabilities.

‘In the future, the organization will carry out the preparatory work programs on the rights of persons with disabilities and information materials on the rights of persons with disabilities, which will enable the target group to raise awareness about their rights,’ said Taras Shcherbatyuk.

The study used some tools of the “Human Rights Passportisation of Areas,” which was developed by Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Office of Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine.

Works conducted under the project “Human rights and their enforcement in Cherkasy” is funded by the European Union under the project “Ukrainian Regional Platform of Public Initiatives,” administered by NGO “Territory of Success.”