The Head of Luhansk Region, Oleksiy Kharchenko, joined the online meeting of the National Accessibility Council dedicated to the implementation of the Action Plan for 2025-2026 within the framework of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Space in Ukraine by 2030.

The Council, chaired by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, opened the annual National Accessibility Week, which takes place in Ukraine from May 25 to 31.

The meeting was attended by the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, heads of central executive bodies, as well as international partners, specialized experts and teams working on the implementation of the barrier-free policy.

The participants of the meeting paid special attention to the development of systemic solutions in the field of barrier-free speech and learning.

"Unfortunately, painful clichés like "disabled", "down", "homeless" still live in headlines, texts, stories, and therefore in the speech of readers and listeners. This does not mean that society does not want to change. Knowledge indicates the direction, but it is habit that leads us every day. Therefore, changes occur when new actions become habitual. And for this, you need to see the person behind the words," emphasized Olena Zelenska.

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery - Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba presented the status of implementation of the Action Plan and emphasized the systemic nature of the changes, which are already being integrated into key areas of state policy.

According to him, today, barrier-free access is a cross-cutting principle in the development of education, medicine, transportation, digital services, administrative services, housing infrastructure, and community reconstruction.

During the meeting, key results of the implementation of the Action Plan were presented.

To date, the Ministries have implemented more than 550 measures out of 1,265 provided for in the Plan for 2025–2026. The implementation of measures at the regional level was also discussed.

The participants of the meeting emphasized that accessibility is part of the modern reconstruction of Ukraine and should be integrated into every new infrastructure, social, and service project.

The National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Space by 2030 remains a key framework for the development of inclusive communities, quality services, and accessible infrastructure across the country.