Strategic Session on Deinstitutionalization and Inclusion in Ukraine – Held in Budapest
Fight For Right, in collaboration with the New Society Institute and Validity Foundation, and with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation, held a strategic workshop titled “Towards a Reconstruction and Recovery Strategy for Deinstitutionalization and Full Inclusion in Ukraine.”
This working session brought together international experts in deinstitutionalization from Canada, Belgium, Hungary, Czechia, Serbia, and Turkey, to align Ukraine’s deinstitutionalization and inclusion agenda with its EU accession process and broader reconstruction efforts.
We focused on two strategic questions:
- How can Ukraine ensure that social reforms reflect a human rights-based approach to disability?
- What are the concrete steps to move from institutional care to independent living in the community for persons with disabilities?
💬 Yuliia Sachuk, Head of Fight For Right, noted:
“Our meeting in Budapest continues the international cooperation we launched in Uzhhorod in 2024. There, we created ‘Theories of Change’ and founded the Uzhhorod Group of Deinstitutionalization Experts. This group has worked with state institutions to create a roadmap for deinstitutionalization in Ukraine. We’ve contributed to the draft Strategy for Reforming Residential Institutions and Deinstitutionalizing Care for Adults with Disabilities and Older Persons until 2034 and its implementation plan for 2025–2027.”
Together, we identified:
- Opportunities for international cooperation to support disability rights in Ukraine,
- Tools for civil society to increase impact at both national and EU levels,
- Strategic directions to guide inclusive post-war reconstruction.
🧩 The session included representatives from:
WHO Ukraine, Ukrainian Human Rights Initiatives, ENIL, Inclusion Europe, Inclusion Czechia, Disability Rights International, Validity Foundation, and others.
This is a crucial step toward building a rights-based, inclusive future for all Ukrainians.
Fight For Right is implementing the project “Strengthening the community of people with disabilities for equal participation in the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU” with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation as part of the “Whole-of-Society Accession” project.
