Project

Policy Development

Background

Ukraine has 145 residential institutions for adults and children with special needs, which accommodate 24,086 residents. Most follow an old Soviet-era model: they are in remote locations, use dormitory-style accommodation, offer very limited personal development and independence, and provide residents with almost no opportunity to participate in community life.

In 2009, Ukraine ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which affirms institutionalisation as incompatible with the right of people with intellectual disability to live independently and be included in the community.

An adult boy happily smiling from his new bedroom in Rozdil surrounded by his giant white teddy bear and a brightly coloured play wall.
An adult boy wearing a blue and yellow tracksuit sitting playing a puzzle in the newly developed games room at Rozdil Friends Home. There are several hanging plants in the background and the walls are bright white.

Thanks in part to the leadership of First Lady Olena Zelenska, Ukraine has adopted the National Strategy for Reforming the System of Institutional Care and Upbringing of Children 2017–2026, which aims to shift Ukraine’s care model from boarding schools to family– and community–based care. Ukraine has also committed to the EU’s Disability Rights Strategy 2021–2030, which prioritises independent living and the gradual phasing out of institutional care. 

In December 2024, Ukraine’s Cabinet adopted the Strategy for Reforming Psychoneurological and Other Residential Institutions, and for De-institutionalisation of Care for Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons. This strategy, which forms part of Ukraine’s EU accession commitments, seeks to replace institutional care with family– and community–based supports, so that people with disabilities can choose where and with whom they live, participate in community life, and avoid discriminatory restrictions. 

The ongoing war has severely constrained Ukraine’s implementation of its de–institutionalisation programme. In the Lviv and Kyiv regions, there are seven assisted–living units, accommodating 40 people. These pilots demonstrate Ukraine’s ambition to de–institutionalise people with disability towards independent living. 

EffectiveAid

Our Policy Development Programme

Effective Aid Ukraine (EAU) has partnered with Lviv Regional Council and the Ukrainian NGO Without Limits, to help Lviv Regional Council develop and implement EU-aligned policies for children and adults with disabilities, particularly those currently living in institutions.

Effective Aid Ukraine’s policy–development programme is led by Dr Michael Hall, a senior lecturer and INGENIUM European University Partner Coordinator at Munster Technological University.

Tom McEnaney, Founder of Effective Aid Ukraine, is standing with members of Ivano-Frankivsk City Council alongside his Ukrainian project partner, Oleksandra Yanovych.
Effective Aid Ukraine aims to assist Ukrainian universities to connect with EU universities, so there can be a transfer of knowledge, best practice, and a deepening of understanding of EU and international best practice in active, strengths-based independent living for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and to translate this knowledge into policy and practice.

Effective Aid Ukraine also sponsors Ukrainian officials and academics to visit Ireland, to see how EU disability policies are being implemented, with a particular focus on de–institutionalisation and transition to independent living.

In 2025, Effective Aid Ukraine brought a Ukrainian delegation to Ireland to visit organisations working with children and adults with special needs, including Stewarts Care, a voluntary social–care organisation supporting more than 2,000 children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. These exchanges are helping to build a community of Ukrainian and EU practitioners and policymakers, who are committed to replacing institutional care with inclusive, community–based support.