The meeting was attended by representatives of the federal and regional authorities, nonprofit organisations of people with disabilities and the professional community from the sphere of culture.
The participants discussed new goals and additional measures to promote inclusion in the sphere of culture and compliance with the presidential instructions in this area. In particular, they reviewed issues related to expanding disabled people’s ability to participate in cultural life and fulfil their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, and to improving the system for providing disabled people with high-quality rehabilitation equipment, including with the use of an electronic certificate.
In her opening remarks, Alexandra Levitskaya noted that the monitoring carried out by the Ministry of Culture revealed that access to cultural facilities and services for people with disabilities was woefully inadequate with less than 40 percent of buildings and 15–20 percent of events meeting the requirements.
The participants supported the Ministry of Culture’s proposal to continue systematic work aimed at involving people with disabilities in cultural life and highlighted the need to draft a comprehensive interagency action plan for the period to 2025; to promote inclusive creative projects, nationwide festivals and exhibitions; and to train cultural organisations’ employees to provide services for people with disabilities.
First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection Aleksei Vovchenko updated the Commission members on the state of affairs in providing disabled people with rehabilitation equipment.
Following the discussion, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection was directed to work through the proposals made during the meeting on improving the provision of disabled people with rehabilitation equipment.