Oschadbank Conducted “Accessibility: Proper Communication” Training for Lviv City Council Employees

More than 30 employees of the Lviv City Council, who are responsible for organizing services, providing assistance, and interacting with city residents, have participated in Oschadbank’s training on accessibility-friendly communication. In particular, the training covered public utilities, social protection, healthcare, registration services, public transportation, and urban improvement.

Lviv became the 18th city where, as part of a large-scale educational program initiated and implemented by Oschadbank, a two-day training session for municipalities titled “Accessibility: Proper Communication” has been held.

“Oschadbank has been promoting accessibility since 2012. Since then, we have gained extensive experience not only in technology and infrastructure solutions but also in mechanisms for scaling these solutions up. To share our expertise, we are implementing a nationwide training program for government officials so that we can collaborate to build an effective, accessibility-friendly society centered on people and their customer experience. We are convinced that accessibility should not only be achieved in individual departments or areas of work, but across the entire system. Communication is key, and proper communication is essential,” noted Anton Tiutiun, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Oschadbank, at the opening of the training session.

"Barrier-free language is part of everyday professional communication. The way we speak and write determines whether a person feels respected, can understand the information, feels included in the interaction, and finds it comfortable to interact with local government bodies. This is the way we could all, through our actions, build a barrier-free environment around us. I would like to thank Oschadbank for its consistent work in this area and for promoting accessible communication practices,” noted Tetiana Lomakina, Presidential Commissioner for Barrier-Free Environment.

Over the course of two days, the training participants, who are service providers of the Lviv City Council, learned about the national strategy for creating an accessible environment and communication ethics: rules for interacting with people with visual, hearing, and musculoskeletal impairments, as well as mental disabilities; and the specifics of communicating with veterans and individuals with combat experience. The practical section was of great interest – it involved role-playing scenarios for providing services in state-run institutions when customers are people with disabilities or in emergency situations, such as when assisting a person experiencing an epileptic seizure.

“Accessibility is one of Lviv’s development priorities, as the community is home to approximately 220,000 people with limited mobility, and, unfortunately, this number is increasing due to the war. When we talk about barrier-free access, we often mean only physical accessibility. However, accessibility in communication is just as important. Words can be extremely effective: they can support and inspire, or cause offense and hurt. The participation of representatives from city council agencies, who interact with people on a daily basis, in such training sessions is a crucial step toward creating an accessible society and improving the quality of services provided to everyone. We are grateful to Tetiana Lomakina and Oschadbank for this initiative,” emphasized Iryna Maruniak, Lviv’s Deputy Mayor for Accessibility.

More than 540 people in Kyiv, Rivne, Odesa, Poltava, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Uzhhorod, Cherkasy, Dnipro, and Mykolaiv have already undergone similar training, and they are now sharing the knowledge they’ve gained with their communities and institutions.

The project’s strategic goal is to establish a sustainable network of local trainers in barrier-free communication. The initiative is being implemented as part of First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska’s program “Barrier-Free Means When You CAN” supported by Tetiana Lomakina, Presidential Commissioner for Barrier-Free Environment.

Oschad is an inclusive, nationwide bank with high ethical standards, for which social transformation, where people are at the center of services and products, is a priority. That is why this comprehensive training program was launched, so that the best experience, knowledge, and practices can be shared with local government partners, those directly interacting with citizens.

Today, Oschadbank is a leader in the financial sector in terms of developing barrier-free infrastructure. Currently, over 750 of the Bank's branches meet all state standards for physical accessibility. In addition, 44 inclusive branches have been designed in-house with enhanced accessibility standards, and 15 mobile branches are operating to provide financial services in frontline and hard-to-reach communities.