11 June 2008. Kyiv, Ukraine – The Hearings of the Parliament Committee on pensioners, veterans and people with disabilities take place today to address the issue of observing the rights of people with disabilities (PWD) in Ukraine. During this session the practical manual for parliamentarians “From exclusion to equality: ensuring rights of people with disabilities” was presented to over 300 MPs, government officials, human rights experts, journalists and people with disabilities. The Ukrainian version of this publication was produced by the UN office in Ukraine in cooperation with the National Assembly of People with Disabilities.
This day the participants of the session discussed the results of monitoring on observing PWD rights in Ukraine and preparing recommendations to implement their rights, to inform local communities about the PWD standards as well as to speed up the process of signing and ratification of the UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities by Ukraine.
Opening the event the Head of the Parliament Committee of Verkhovna Rada on pensioners, veterans and people with disabilities and Member of the Parliament Valeriy Sushkevych underlined that only timely constructive reforms in Ukraine that would strengthen human rights protection mechanisms, could facilitate solving the issues of people with disabilities in our country. “Implamentation of such reforms requires availability of unbaised and comprehensive information regarding observance of rights of people with disabilities”, he added. Mr. Sushkevych stressed that these Hearings are initiated by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine, which carried out the monitoring of the situation on implementation of the rights of people with disabilities.
Presenting the practical manuel for for parliamentarians on PWD rights, Mr. Shushkevych said “I believe that this is a unique publications. Every member of parliament needs this comprehensive manual, which provides systematic knowledge on the protection of rights of people with disabilities”.
UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Francis O’Donnell also addressed the participants and thanked the team of National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine for cooperation. He also reminded that according to the President of Ukraine instructions, Minister of Labor and Social Policy is assigned to sign the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities on behalf of Ukraine. “Tentatively the signing is planned for September of this year and we hope that this will be a push for improvement of ensuring and implementation of right of people with disabilities in Ukraine”, he added. O’Donnell underlined that inclusion and acceptance of people with disabilities as full and equal members of this community is a fundamental factor of successful development of Ukrainian society.
Other speakers of the Hearings were Deputy Minister of education and science of Ukraine Polyanskyi P.B., Deputy Minster of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine Negoda V.A., Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Police of Ukraine Onyshchuk V.M., First Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Shevchenko V.V., and other members of parliament and government officials.
Photo report of Parliament Committee Hearings on Observing Rights of People with Disabilities in Ukraine.
Note for Editors:
People with disabilities, elderly and people with limited abilities constitute a growing group of society. On May 3, 2008 th UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities entered into force stating as a priority the issues of protecting rights of people with disabilities for the world community, and raises the importance of addressing this problem at the national level.
The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is the first legislative document that has mandatory juridical power for country-members. As of today the Convention was signed by 129 countries, 71 countries signed Optional Protocol, 25 countries ratified Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, 15 countries ratified Optional Protocol. Ukraine neither signed nor ratified the Convention. Currantly, 2.67 millions of people having disabilities are registered in Ukraine.
Around 10 per cent of the world's population, or 650 million people, live with a disability. They are the world's largest minority. Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The World Bank estimates that 20 per cent of the world's poorest people have some kind of disability, and tend to be regarded in their own communities as the most disadvantaged. According to the official statistics, the number of People With Disabilities (PWD) in Ukraine is around 2.67 million people, which amounts to 5.2% of the overall population.
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More information:
UN Department of Public Information in Ukraine – Veronika Vashchenko , Communications Officer, +38 044 254-00-35, 253-93-63.
11.06.08
