Additional Training for Civil Society Organizations within the Project “Socio-Economic Inclusion in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The continuation of the “Socio-Economic Inclusion in the Brčko District” (SEI) project this year, through the activities of the SEI Center and four civil society organizations from the District, was the focus of yesterday’s workshop held at the Youth Center.
“The main goal of the workshop is to strengthen the capacity of the non-governmental sector for drafting project proposals, particularly the four organizations: the Brčko Diabetes Association, the Vermont Youth Center, the Citizens’ Association Demos, and the Citizens’ Association Faith and Hope,” said project manager Branislav Tanasijević, on behalf of the implementing organization CARE International.
As he emphasized, the intention is to provide further guidance for the quality implementation and reporting of the entire project, while also gathering constructive suggestions from these organizations, which are key partners in the initiative.
The association “Faith and Hope,” which brings together individuals affected by muscular dystrophy, atrophy, and related muscular and neuromuscular diseases, as well as other rare conditions, actively worked last year on preparing documentation for the removal of architectural barriers. This year, the focus will be on constructing accessible toilets for persons with disabilities in the District, said the association’s president, Nataša Damjanović. She highlighted that one of their main upcoming tasks is the creation of a registry of persons with disabilities.
“Such a registry is of key importance as a database, since it is necessary for providing support to persons with disabilities, especially in the context of public services and institutions in the District—for example, the Subdivision for Social Work or the Brčko Employment Bureau,” Damjanović emphasized.
One of the four civil society organizations involved in the project is the Demos organization from Brčko. Its president, Božidar Jović, highlighted the importance of the recent adoption of the Draft Law on Professional Rehabilitation, Training, and Employment of Persons with Disabilities by the District Government. However, he also pointed out that the law is currently incomplete, as employment quotas have not been defined.
“For example, if a particular District institution does not employ persons with disabilities, and a quota system is in place, then the key question is how persons with disabilities will be positively affirmed. Therefore, it is crucial to push for amendments in this regard,” Jović stated.
The main goal of this year’s phase of the Socio-Economic Inclusion project is the establishment of a social enterprise.
“In that context, it is excellent that along with the adoption of the Law on Social Entrepreneurship, the Brčko Government has also adopted the necessary bylaws. From both an economic and practical standpoint, establishing the enterprise would be most sustainable if it were located in the building where the SEI Center already operates, given that there is a suitable space under the same roof. However, that space is still not accessible to us, even though it is owned by the District Government,” concluded Tanasijević.
It is more than clear that all project participants, including the NGO sector, have a great deal of work ahead of them this year that must be successfully completed.
The SEI project is implemented by CARE International Balkans in partnership with the Development and Guarantee Fund of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with financial support from the Government of the Czech Republic through its Czech Development Agency.
