Workshop on Disability Rights and Gender in Ukraine

IFES Ukraine with cooperation of Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine and financial support of USAID and Canadian government, held BRIDGE Disability Rights and Gender workshop. The workshop was one of the main activities of the “Disability-Inclusive Elections Week” and took place during March 14-17, 2016 in Kiev, Ukraine.

The workshop was conducted by Pavel Cabacenco (accrediting BRIDGE Facilitator–Moldova) and Ukrainian semi-accredited facilitators Tetyana Bibik and Evgeniy Krikopolo. Virginia Atkinson, IFES Program Manager, Global Access and Inclusion provided expert advice during the preparation and conduct of the workshop.

The workshop was attended by twenty-five participants (18 female, 7 male) from Central Election Commission, Disabled People’s Organizations, women’s rights organizations and citizen observer organizations.

The agenda of the workshop focused on access barriers and solutions for persons with disabilities and women, role of Election Management Bodies and civil society in elimination of the barriers, international experience and best practices in gender mainstreaming, inclusive voter education, lobbing and advocacy for reform.

Participants highly appreciated the workshop and the opportunity to discuss problems of the persons with disabilities with other stakeholders. The workshop provided “a platform for exchange of experience and knowledge, I learned a lot” – said one of participants. “It was very interesting and useful to learn how other countries solve the problems of people with disabilities in electoral filed” – shared her opinion other participant.