Round table on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the Kyiv City State Administration

On December 2, our team of Lidiya Martynova, co-founder and chairwoman of the Board, and Kostiantyn Zelenov, Board member and psychiatrist of the highest category, joined a roundtable at the Kyiv City State Administration dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The event brought together representatives of the public sector and city authorities — an important space for dialogue that we all need.

We once again reminded everyone about people with mental disorders, shared the achievements of the NGO "Psychability" for 2025, and once again raised an issue that cannot be postponed: the creation of the service "Assistant to a Person with a Mental Disorder".

Unfortunately, the position of the authorities has not changed yet: first, there must be a state decision, and only then will the city authorities be able to join.

But the support of colleagues was very valuable: Valentyna Uvarova from the public organization "Litai", Raisa Kravchenko from the Coalition for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Due to Intellectual Disabilities, and Vladyslav Malashchenko from Good People. They all emphasized the importance of developing case management, the exact model underlying the service we advocate.

We thank Lesia Petrivska, the Commissioner of the Kyiv City Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for the invitation and the opportunity to be heard.

After the official part, we continued the conversation with Maryna Poroshenko, the Head of the Standing Committee on Healthcare, Family and Social Policy. We agreed to continue the dialogue on the possibilities of creating a service.

Our colleagues from the public sector also initiated a joint online meeting to develop a strategy of case management in Ukraine together.

We thank everyone who supported our position and raised the issue of institutionalizing our NGO. Only together can we change the lives of people with disabilities for the better — consistently and systematically. 💛