Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba called on partners, diplomats of foreign states and representatives of international organizations to assist Ukrainian regions and communities in the implementation of their plans and projects in the field of inclusiveness and barrier-freeness.

"I urge our partners, foreign diplomats, foreign embassies, and representative offices of international organizations to pay even more attention to working with Ukrainian regions, with Ukrainian communities, in order to support their plans and projects in the field of inclusiveness and barrier-freeness," he said at a meeting of the Council for human rights, gender equality and diversity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, dedicated to issues of inclusiveness and barrier-freeness, cooperation and international support for Ukraine in times of war.

The minister said "I would like new projects, new initiatives to emerge as a result of this meeting."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the holding of the fourth meeting of the Council for human rights, gender equality and diversity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said the department created this tool precisely in order to consider such priority issues as inclusion and barrier-freeness on a systematic basis and take concrete actions to implement previously developed initiatives.

"Barrier-freeness is not only proof of the democracy of the country. We fight for every life, for social equality and for the country to be fully barrier-free. This is an important element of ensuring human rights, but no less important on the path of Ukraine's integration into the EU. And most important for building a normal country in which every person feels respect for himself," he said.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has done, wants to do and will make its contribution to the implementation of this important policy," Kuleba said.

The meeting was attended by First Lady Olena Zelenska, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Social Policy Oksana Zholnovych, acting Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Vasyl Shkurakov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Iryna Borovets, Advisor-Plenipotentiary of the President of Ukraine on Barrier-Free Access Tetyana Lomakina.

The meeting participants discussed ways to implement the National Strategy for creating a barrier-free space in Ukraine until 2030.

Kuleba said the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this direction are only an element in a much broader policy of inclusiveness and barrier-free policy that covers the entire country. He expressed gratitude to the First Lady for being the driving force behind the process of introducing barrier-free policies in Ukraine.

The Minister emphasized the importance of ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities and other social groups in war conditions, and noted the prospects for restoration based on barrier-free conditions.

Representatives of the diplomatic corps also presented the experience of Canada, Denmark and other countries in implementing inclusion programs. An important topic of the meeting was the prospects for international support for the implementation of specific projects aimed at inclusion and barrier-freeness, as well as the possibility of attracting resources from international donors, organizations and governments.

Following the meeting, Council members adopted a joint statement.