Under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister for Recstoration - Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba, a working meeting was held on the status of barrier-free routes in 15 pilot cities of the flagship project "Movement without Barriers". These are transport and pedestrian routes, the implementation of the first stage of the project is planned by the end of 2025.

Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Natalia Kozlovska acted as the moderator of the event. It was attended by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Viktor Mykyta, Advisor to the Minister for Development of Communities and Territories and Head of the "Movement Without Barriers" project Iryna Maliutina, heads of regional military administrations, city mayors and representatives of local self-government.

Oleksii Kuleba called on community leaders and local officials to immerse themselves in the project as much as possible.

"Barrier-free environment is an issue that cannot be postponed for a long time. Everyone must take responsibility for their area of work and thoroughly study it. It is important to move quickly from theoretical discussions to real work on the ground. The "Barrier-Free Movement" project is of great social importance. It is a contribution to creating conditions for the return of wounded military personnel and veterans to their communities. We must also provide a barrier-free environment for people who need it and opportunities for unhindered and convenient movement," emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration - Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

Viktor Mykyta addressed community representatives with a proposal to intensify the work.

"The project was jointly launched and everyone understands what tasks lie ahead of us. There is a great public demand, there are veterans, low-mobility population groups who need support today," emphasized the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

The communities presented lists of facilities that are included in barrier-free routes and require accessibility features for people with reduced mobility this year. Among the main issues are sources and opportunities for co-financing the work from the state, regional and local budgets.

Oleksii Kuleba emphasized that the project is also funded from the state budget.

"Our goal is to ensure co-financing of the project, when: 40% - state budget, 30% - regional, 30% - city. Also, the emphasis is on the targeted use of funds, financing exclusively accessibility facilities, and not underground communications, facade repairs, etc. It is necessary to clearly control the allocation of expenses," said the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration.

During the meeting, Oleksii Kuleba separately focused on the importance of the integrity of routes. He instructed to avoid situations where the route includes objects at a distance of 400 m from it, which violates the logic of accessibility. Each object must be checked for compliance with the general concept - a barrier-free route. An assessment of the technical conditions and possibilities of arrangement on transport and pedestrian routes is required. It is important that the understanding of the integrated approach is not only at the central level, but also in each community. Schedules for the implementation of work on the relevant route from pilot cities should appear in the near future.

Project office of the flagship project is also responsible for ensuring transparency of documentation and compliance with the established philosophy. The support team from the Ministry for Development will also provide cities with the necessary resources to train specialized specialists in route marking.

To date, communities have approved the first stages of barrier-free routes within the flagship project at local barrier-free councils. The next step is to determine the budget participation of each level (state, regional, city) and make appropriate decisions at local council sessions.

Background.

"Movement without barriers" is a flagship project of the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories, implemented within the framework of the initiative of the first lady Olena Zelenska "Without barriers" and covers 15 pilot communities, where barrier-free routes are being created. Today, these are Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Ternopil, Lviv, Rivne, Chernivtsi, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Slavutych, Kropyvnytskyi, Bucha, the village of Opishnia and Kalush. The executive partner of the initiative is the non-govermental organisation "Bezbar'ernist".

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