During her visit to Slavutych on the 38th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, First Lady Olena Zelenska visited the Inclusive Resource Center, which has provided services to nearly 350 children.
It was created to ensure the right to education for people with special educational needs. The center has, among others, a rehabilitation therapist, a speech therapist, a psychologist, and a special education teacher. The facility is equipped with ramps and provides information in Braille.
"It was not easy for the Kyiv region to recover after the occupation. However, the number of children enrolled in inclusive education is increasing all the time, and psychologists keep improving their skills by taking courses within the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program. That's exactly how it should be: primary care is needed everywhere in the community, not only in inclusive education, but in any other area," the President's wife said.
The First Lady also inspected the barrier-free space creation in Slavutych. The relevant memorandum was signed as part of Olena Zelenska's "Without Barriers" initiative in November 2020. In less than a year, the position of the mayor's adviser on barrier-free issues was created here for the first time in Ukraine.
Pedestrian sidewalks and crosswalks have already been lowered in the city, and ramps and lifts are being installed. This year, the city plans to continue arranging barrier-free hospital wards and converting an old polyclinic into a center for business initiatives development and compact accommodation for internally displaced persons.
“On all my visits, I always observe the implementation of barrier-free principles in Ukrainian cities. I patronize the implementation efforts because I am convinced that barrier-free accessibility is important not only for people with disabilities or those wounded by the Russian attack, although they are the first to need them, but for the whole society. Because at some point in their lives, everyone can experience mobility issues, illness, and fatigue,” Olena Zelenska emphasized.