In Ukraine, the president – Volodymyr Zelensky – signed a decree approving the National Human Rights Strategy, which specifically mentions LGBTQI+ people as a group at heightened risk of rights violations.
Decree No. 1038/2026 is dated October 12, 2026.
The signing – said to be directly linked to Ukraine’s European integration efforts – is aligned with the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement, and is intended to help Ukraine fulfill its commitments in negotiations on EU membership, particularly those outlined in the Rule of Law Roadmap.
With this document, Ukraine’s human rights legislation is aligned with EU standards.
The strategy stresses the need to safeguard the rights and freedoms of everyone under Ukraine’s jurisdiction, regardless of citizenship or place of residence. However, it stressed that certain groups may face a heightened risk of rights violations due to their circumstances, including children, people with disabilities, war veterans and their families, internally displaced persons, residents of occupied territories, national minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and LGBTQI+ people.
The strategy sets out three objectives and indicators for measuring progress – i.e. number of discrimination complaints submitted to the ombudsman, proportion of criminal cases involving hate crimes, and number of people receiving free legal aid.
With this decree, executive authorities are now mandated to implement the strategy in cooperation with other government agencies and local governments.
