Lviv, Ukraine, 23 October 2023 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with financial support from the UK government and in partnership with the Lviv City Council and Lviv Oblast State Administration, has conducted a series of trainings on "Services without Barriers."

The training took place from 16 to 21 October 2023 with 400 participants who provide public services – including representatives of local government and local state authorities, administrative service centre (ASC) employees, public transport drivers, cultural and educational workers, members of monitoring groups at district administrations and Lviv City Council, and others. 

The training participants learned how to implement the state norms and standards for the accessibility of buildings and structures, as well as the correct terminology and rules for interacting with the public. The training also included a practical session, during which the participants assessed a space where services are provided, and received recommendations for setting up barrier-free access to services.

At the beginning and at the end of the training, the participants also took a survey on the topic of accessibility, and comparison of the results before and after the training showed that all participants had improved their level of knowledge of the topic: The average level of awareness before the start of the training was 67%, while after its completion it had risen to 92%. Also, as part of the training, booklets were prepared with information on barrier-free environments, accessibility of services, and a glossary of terms. The booklets can be downloaded here.

Oleksandr Kulepin, the deputy head of the Lviv Oblast State Administration for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization (CDTO), expressed his gratitude to UNDP and international partners for organizing the training.

"People are at the core of inclusion and barrier-free accessibility, so it’s very important that each of the training participants understands how they can contribute to the provision of quality and accessible services at their workplace,” Kulepin said. 

“To ensure the accessibility of services, we, together with UNDP, will also provide 40 tablets for ASCs in the region, together with an organization that will translate for people who speak sign language, because this is what barrier-free access is, – when a person with certain disabilities can come and use a service from the state or local government."

Lviv First Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Andriy Moskalenko, said that: "the presence of such a large number of participants at the training demonstrates our desire to make our services accessible to different categories of the population, so it’s very important that the participants can then share this knowledge with their colleagues."

Volodymyr Kebalo, Participatory Governance and Community Engagement Specialist, UNDP Ukraine, said: "Public services should be targeted at meeting the needs of all people, regardless of their psychological, physiological or social situation. This is also an indicator of the effectiveness of a service state and good democratic governance. There are many challenges and obstacles on the way to transforming our communities into inclusive environments – not only infrastructural obstacles, but also a lack of experience and knowledge. This training is a unique event and experience on the way to transforming the Lviv community into a barrier-free inclusive environment. UNDP's task is to scale up this experience and knowledge to different communities and regions of Ukraine.”

Background:

The "Services without Barriers" training was organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of the project "Strengthening Community Resilience in the Regions of Ukraine" with financial support from the UK Government and in partnership with the Lviv City Council and the Lviv Oblast State Administration.

Media enquiries: Yuliia Samus, Communications Team Leader, UNDP in Ukraine; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org