In recent months, people across Ukraine have been queuing for hours at the service centres of the Pension Fund of Ukraine. Among them are pensioners, internally displaced persons, young parents and people with disabilities.

The reason is the transfer of social payments from social protection agencies to the Pension Fund. The reform was supposed to simplify the social support system, but in practice, many difficulties have arisen.

What caused the problems:

• During the transfer of personal files from social protection agencies to the Pension Fund, errors occurred in the registers. Some of the data had to be restored manually, which significantly slowed down the system.
• The Pension Fund was simultaneously tasked with administering dozens of new types of social benefits, including assistance to people with disabilities, families with children, and subsidies. The system was not fully prepared for such a workload.
• The ‘online services’ that the state is banking on are not accessible to everyone. For many elderly people, people with disabilities, or those who do not use digital services, electronic identification or video calls are a new barrier rather than a simplification.

Physical barriers also add to this: not all Pension Fund offices are accessible to people with reduced mobility. Stairs, lack of ramps or other obstacles make it even more difficult to access services.

Barrier-free access is not just about infrastructure.

It is also about the accessibility of public services, understandable procedures, simple digital solutions and respect for people's needs.

Reforms of the social system are indeed necessary. But it is important that they do not create new barriers for those who need support the most.