Anton Gerashchenko: 400,000 Ukrainians with hearing impairment will have full access to all services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
This was announced today, May 17, by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko during the presentation of new digital services for people with hearing impairment, held in the Ukrainian National News Agency “Ukrinform” with the participation of the First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenska.
She stressed the importance of breaking down communication barriers. A newly created service for people with hearing impairments is being rolled out for unhindered access to information that helps them live every day.
“Every ministry, every department and every person who shares the philosophy of barrier-free can start from itself. The service, which the ministries presented today, testifies to exactly this. It should simplify the provision of necessary state services for deaf and hard of hearing people,” said Elena Zelenska.
The introduction of new services is provided for by the National Strategy for creating a barrier-free space in Ukraine, which was developed within the framework of the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya “Without Barriers”.
In turn, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko spoke about new digital services for people with hearing impairment, which are currently functioning in the organs of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine fully supports the National Strategy for creating a barrier-free space in Ukraine. We introduce modern technologies for people with hearing impairment into the activities of the CIV system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Thanks to innovative systems, 400,000 Ukrainians with hearing impairment will have full access to all our services. We strive for the life of all, without exception, our fellow citizens to be safe, comfortable and comfortable,” said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
Anton Gerashchenko stressed that every citizen of Ukraine should feel equal and protected in matters of communication with the authorities and with each other.
In turn, the secretary of the NGO “Public Movement “Social Unity” Anton Gulidin spoke about the application, with which people with hearing impairment can call emergency services.
“Until recently, this was not possible, but thanks to the application of Vitaly Potapchuk, calling emergency services for people with hearing impairment became possible. Yesterday, an inaudible Ukrainian called rescuers to a fire, it was very quickly localized. The leader of the project and the first city that became as accessible as possible for people with hearing impairment is the city of Kharkiv. There, in almost all municipal institutions, the city authorities have introduced translation services. I would like to broadcast it to the whole country,” he said.
For reference: At the end of March, a pilot project was launched on the official website of the Kiev police, which provides for the possibility of deaf and hard of hearing residents of Kiev to contact the police directly. People with hearing impairment can seek not only help, but also to solve other important issues.
Thanks to the widget installed on the site, Ukrainians with hearing impairment can ask questions online and make a phone call (to any phone number listed on the contact page). Also, deaf and hard of hearing people who are in a dangerous situation can call the police using the “FM Translator” application, which is installed on the smartphones of people with hearing impairment. The application implements the possibility of round-the-clock voiceless calling of emergency service 102.
Special licensed software is installed on the tablets of the Kiev police crews, which provides round-the-clock access to online sign language interpreters.
For quick video communication with sign language translators, tablets were installed in service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv in November 2020. With the support of translators, we have managed to process more than 2000 applications from deaf people, which indicates the relevance.
In February 2021, another pilot project was launched - 24-hour access to the services of sign language interpreters in customs control zones. Currently, tablets have already been installed in Boryspil, Zhuliany, Odessa, Lviv and Stanytsya Luhanska. Since the start of the pilot project, only at the Stanytsia Lugansk checkpoint there have been 90 appeals to sign language interpreters. Such communication significantly reduces the time of passage of all procedures, reduces queues and destroys any communication barriers.
In the near future, it is planned to launch services for people with hearing impairment in all structural units and central executive bodies in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in the State Migration Service.
We hope that the implementation of the National Strategy for the creation of a barrier-free space in Ukraine will attract even greater attention of society to the needs of people with hearing impairment, contribute to the protection of their rights and interests and become the basis for the development of a tolerant and barrier-free society.
Recall, the Ministry of Internal Affairs introduces modern technologies for people with hearing impairment.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
