Citizens Association Information Center for People with Disabilities "Lotos" was created as a follower of the program for people with disabilities that was implemented in several places in Bosnia and Herzegovina during and immediately after the war by the British non-governmental organization OXFAM from Oxford.
The largest program was developed in Tuzla, which consisted of three components:
The Information Center for Persons with Disabilities "Lotos" was founded jointly by persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities, and was officially registered with the Ministry of Justice and Administration on November 21, 1997.
All previous years were years of challenge and struggle for rights and dignity and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in BiH society, but also years of changing attitudes of BiH society towards persons with disabilities.
Constant innovative approaches and updating of new issues of importance to people with disabilities were the guarantee of survival and are the guarantee of the future of "Lotos" as an organization that provides opportunities to people with and without disabilities in the fight for a society of equal, fair and dignified citizens.
Twenty-seven years of existence represented twenty-seven years of opportunities for people with and without disabilities. All these years we have persisted in the publishing business. The magazine "Inicijativa" has seen over a hundred editions. Many publications, translated and created through the implementation of various projects, have enriched publishing in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the theme of disability.
"Lotos" enabled the international movement of people with disabilities to receive information about the situation in the field of disability in our country, as well as in the countries that emerged from the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
Our first major participation in the international movement of people with disabilities was participation and presentations on the costs of disability during wartime conflicts at the Fifth General Assembly of DPI "Disabled People International" in 1998, and already in 1999 "Lotos" organized the first major conference on the rights of people with disabilities for representatives of organizations of people with disabilities from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conference was attended by about 80 people with disabilities from all over the country, and was held in Tuzla in October 1999.
This was just the beginning of organizing various events that created a space for actualizing the rights of people with disabilities.
In May 2000, a conference/seminar on the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities was organized in Fojnica for representatives of governmental and non-governmental institutions, and a special participant in the conference was Benkt Linquist, Special Rapporteur of the UN Secretary-General on the Application of the Standard Rules Worldwide.
After the Conference in Fojnica, space was opened for the inclusion of disability issues in the mainstream of society, but also for the creation of special policies and legal solutions of importance for persons with disabilities.
"Lotos" continued its journey by exploring innovative approaches in creating the preconditions for the equal participation of persons with disabilities in society.
In 2003, for the first time in this part of Europe, an approach to issues of development and organization of society based on the principles of universal design was promoted. On this topic, a group of activists from the entire Western Balkan region, as well as representatives of the academic community and other stakeholders in the development of society, gathered in Tuzla to learn about the principles of universal design and, using them, change their own approach to organizing or developing society, services, and products in a way that they are accessible to the largest possible number of citizens without additional adaptations.
"Lotos" did not limit its activities to cooperation with decision-makers and organizations of people with disabilities. In Tuzla, it was recognized as one of the leading civil society organizations, which created opportunities to support other civil society organizations in including disability issues in their programming and advocacy actions.
"Lotos" was one of the key civil society actors in the process of creating the first Economic Development Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PRSP), which provided a completely new perspective in the approach of government institutions to issues of importance to persons with disabilities.
In 2005, with the support of the World Bank, the conference "Disability and Poverty" was organized in Sarajevo, during which all key participants in the political decision-making process were informed about the impact of poverty on the quality of life of people with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Regional and international cooperation of "Lotos" has opened perspectives for persons with disabilities to participate in all key policy-making processes in the countries of the region. "Lotos" is recognized as an organization that has the capacity to participate in partnership with other organizations of persons with disabilities, as well as other international civil society organizations, in the processes of promoting rights and advocating for changes in society's attitude towards persons with disabilities.
In the period from 2004 to 2006, in partnership with CIL Serbia (Centre for Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities of Serbia) and CRS (Catholic Relief Services), “Lotos” implemented a project to strengthen the leadership and advocacy capacities of persons with disabilities in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the key results of this project was the organization of a large International Conference “Step towards Europe”, which was organized in Sarajevo from 17 to 19 March 2005, and which was attended by over 180 representatives of governments and non-governmental organizations from thirteen countries, as well as leaders of the international movement of persons with disabilities from all over Europe.
"Lotos" was one of the partners in the regional SHARE SEE program implemented in Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which the partners were: Handicap International, Polio Plus from Skopje, CIL from Serbia, the Association of Students with Disabilities from Belgrade and "Lotos" from Tuzla.
In the period from 2005 to 2008, "Lotos" was one of the partners in a large regional project implemented in the Western Balkans by the EDF (European Disability Forum) as an administrative and logistical support. As part of this project, the Second Regional Conference "Step towards Europe 2" was organized in Sarajevo in 2008, and "Lotos" was one of the organizers of the conference.
The cooperation with EDF has continued all these years, which enabled representatives of "Lotos" as well as representatives of other organizations of persons with disabilities to participate in a series of international conferences, study visits and seminars.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the creation of a State Disability Policy began in 2006, and a representative of "Lotos" chaired the national steering group, which consisted of representatives of government institutions and representatives of organizations of people with disabilities.
A unified policy on disability in Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted in 2008, and based on this policy, Strategies for improving the position of persons with disabilities were created and implemented in both BH entities. A representative of "Lotos" participated in the work of the government body for monitoring the implementation of the Strategic Documents.
Since 2010, Lotos has been changing its focus in its approach to people with disabilities by devoting more and more attention to programs to empower young people and women with disabilities. This has resulted in the development of a partnership program within the MyRight program for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Lotos, in partnership with the STIL Center for Independent Living in Stockholm, has been implementing in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2014.
Within this program, innovative methods of supporting young people with disabilities have been developed, which were particularly reflected in the implementation of mentoring programs, peer support programs, study visits to countries in the region, and participation in the Freedom Drive (March for Freedom), in which representatives of "Lotos" have been participating since 2011.
Creating opportunities for young people resulted in the participation of representatives of "Lotos" in study sessions for young people in Strasbourg organized by the Youth Committee of the Council of Europe, and a representative of the youth of "Lotos" was also a member and chair of the Youth Committee of the European Network for Independent Living ENIL. The feature of this program is that for the first time, "Lotos" is also starting to work in parallel on empowering parents and family members of young people with disabilities.
"Lotos" continued regional cooperation and activities with its partners from Macedonia and Serbia, CIL and Polio Plus, which resulted in the establishment of the first regional network for people with disabilities, "BIDF" (Balkan Independent Disability Framework).
Also, within the framework of BIDF's activities, in 2018, the network and the OSCE organized a large regional conference on the participation of persons with disabilities in the electoral process and political life for around 150 participants from all countries in the region, as well as persons with disabilities who are members of parliament in the countries in the region.
Since its establishment in 1997, "Lotos" has organized numerous seminars, trainings, round tables, forums, and public debates with the active participation of both persons with disabilities and representatives of various organizations and institutions, which has opened up social dialogue in relation to the field of disability and contributed to placing issues of importance for persons with disabilities very high on the agenda of political decision-makers at all levels of decision-making in our country, but also to keeping the public's attention, both through academic and other discussions, and through media presentation of issues of importance for persons with disabilities.
Since its inception, Lotos has collaborated with the Threshold Center for Independent Living in Helsinki, and this collaboration has confirmed our organization's commitment to basing our work on the principles of human rights and dignity, as well as independent living and inclusion of people with disabilities in society. This collaboration has also opened up opportunities for us to learn from the best, internationally recognized and recognized leaders in the disability movement.
Since its founding, "Lotos" has based its projects and activities on data that we have collected and continue to collect in various ways. The commitment to base our activities on exact and relevant data has opened up space for the implementation of a series of research and studies on phenomena related to disability issues.
Back in 2004, we conducted two major surveys on the attitudes and status of people with disabilities, which were published under the title: "Equality, Right or Special Need". Also, in the past twenty years, we have researched the state of accessibility in the municipalities of the Tuzla Canton three times. In the period 2005-2006, we created a Feasibility Study on Establishing Centers for Retraining and Additional Training of People with Disabilities in the Region of Northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As part of the project "Strengthening capacities for independent living of persons with disabilities", a survey was conducted on the attitudes of young persons with disabilities and their family members towards independent living and the rights of persons with disabilities.
In 2020, as part of the pilot project on the cost-effectiveness of personal assistance, research was conducted and a study was prepared on the socio-economic cost-effectiveness of establishing a personal assistant service.
The resources of "Lotos" have served a significant number of young researchers and students to carry out their research and prepare master's and doctoral theses on the topic of disability.
All the years of our work so far have been an opportunity to meet with some of the most important and influential leaders in the disability movement, from whom we have learned how to approach the phenomenon of disability and present it in our community so that people with disabilities are accepted as equal citizens, and that the community, recognizing such an approach, makes changes for the benefit of all. Here are just a few icons of the disability movement with whom we have had the honor of meeting and collaborating:
In the Western Balkans region, "Lotos" has collaborated with all leaders in the disability movement in the region. Here we will mention only some of the most important names:
It is difficult to list here all the events and areas of activity in which "Lotos" as an organization made its active contribution or left its mark. We are certainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region of the Western Balkans, but also at the international level, one of the most recognizable organizations of persons with disabilities and civil society organizations that still stand firm on their determination to create changes and opportunities through actualization of the disability phenomenon so that disability issues are recognized and treated as human rights issues, and disabled people as equal citizens who enjoy the benefits of society on an equal basis and together with all citizens.
All of this was possible and we achieve it thanks to our members, our management and the staff of "Lotos" who do everything in their power every day to identify the needs of individuals with disabilities and society on the one hand, and on the other hand, the opportunities that need to be used to overcome the needs of individuals and the challenges of society.