“Creating policies in BiH while respecting human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities” implemented by the Information Center for Persons with Disabilities "Lotos" Tuzla and Association of the Blind of Sarajevo Canton and is funded by European Union. The project has as its main focus improving the effectiveness of human rights policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina by creating sustainable mechanisms for monitoring, promoting and implementing these policies, especially in relation to persons with disabilities. The project ensures synergy with other development initiatives by building on the existing legal frameworks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project aims to improve the position of persons with disabilities by strengthening the role of their organizations, advocating for inclusive policies and raising awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities. Through a series of activities, including training for decision-makers, public discussions, establishing focal points within institutions and developing mechanisms for structured dialogue, the project seeks to ensure that the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are consistently applied in policymaking and implementation. The project also includes the development of an accessible online platform that will enable networking and strategic cooperation between organizations of persons with disabilities and other relevant stakeholders. All activities are aimed at creating long-term changes that will enable persons with disabilities to participate equally in society and decision-making.
"Strengthening capacities for independent living of persons with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is implemented in partnership by IC "Lotos" Tuzla and STYLE of the Center for Independent Living from Stockholm, and is funded by the organization MyRight from Sweden. The aim of the project is to empower young people with disabilities to live independently and for young people with disabilities to gain self-confidence and knowledge about their rights and opportunities, and to be more involved in everyday activities in the community and in the work of organizations of people with disabilities. The project also includes work with parents and family members of young people with disabilities, as well as improving systematic cooperation with stakeholders with the aim of building the capacity of the organization. Peer support, which is continuously maintained, has great benefits in the lives of project participants and greatly influences positive changes and their motivation.
“Strengthening the position of women with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina – reducing discrimination and violence” aims to improve the position of women with disabilities in society in Bosnia and Herzegovina who face discrimination and violence and plans to bring about change in the areas of capacity building of organizations, empowerment of women with disabilities and policy changes regarding women with disabilities. These changes will be made by implementing various activities primarily designed to empower women with disabilities: training, peer support and mentoring programs. The project influences that women with disabilities, their rights and the problems they face are recognized and listed in documents, policies, procedures that state human rights. The project aims to achieve changes in the areas of capacity building of organizations, empowerment of women with disabilities and respect for legal regulations that protect the rights of women with disabilities, through strengthening the leadership and advocacy capacities of women with disabilities to combat violence and discrimination. IC “Lotos” intensively advocates for improving the systemic response to the issue of violence against women with disabilities, as well as for individual empowerment of women. As part of the project, a mentoring program is being implemented for women who have undergone individual empowerment training. The goal of the mentoring program is to introduce civil society organizations that deal with human rights issues with an emphasis on protection from violence and support for marginalized women, improve advocacy capacities, as well as acquire other skills such as teamwork, organizational administration and procedures, and the like.
The project is implemented by IC “Lotos” Tuzla in partnership with Threshold Association / Kynnys ry from Finland.
“Supported Housing and Home Help” Program, implemented by the Information Center for Persons with Disabilities “Lotos,” provides comprehensive support to five young people with disabilities in the process of transitioning to a more independent lifestyle. Launched in late 2024 with the support of Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the program is designed to support active young people with disabilities and aims to provide not only physical accessibility, but also psychosocial support.
The beneficiaries of the program, with the help of assistants who respect their autonomy and support them in their daily activities, develop life skills, organize their responsibilities and strengthen social inclusion. The program also includes activities that encourage mutual cooperation between beneficiaries, exchange of experiences and build self-confidence. In addition, through direct support, beneficiaries gain a sense of security and motivation for active inclusion in social flows. This program is an important step towards promoting equality and a better quality of life for persons with disabilities, providing them with the opportunity to show their potential and contribute to the community.
"I am here - visible and proud" was implemented by 5 coalitions of organizations of people with disabilities in BiH through MyRight and is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency AIDS represented by the Embassy of Sweden in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kahane Foundation. The project focused on greater inclusion of women with disabilities through their active participation in organizations of persons with disabilities. By involving the wider membership, the coalitions mapped and conducted research on women with disabilities who are not active members or not at all members of OOSI but live in the area of work covered by the coalition in order to encourage and encourage them to join the project through conversation. By participating in the project, women and girls with disabilities got the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills through active participation in the mentoring program and various trainings and training for active engagement through the mentoring program, training and establishment of a forum for women with disabilities. The goal is for women and girls with disabilities to become active participants in PWD coalitions through active engagement in forums of women with disabilities. Through this project, organizations of persons with disabilities have ensured the meaningful participation and representation of women with disabilities, which fulfills the obligation of enabling gender equality in PWD.
“Inclusion of disabilities in gender equality actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is being implemented with the support of US Embassies. The project influenced organizations and institutions to include a disability perspective in their work and enable greater participation of women with disabilities in their activities and services. The project was implemented in several locations across Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Tuzla and Mostar. The project included mapping the most active organizations and institutions for gender equality and selecting them for participation in the project and analyzing the disability perspective within the organizations, whether strategic documents are in line with the principles of inclusion and non-discrimination, as well as whether spaces and information are accessible to persons with disabilities, etc. A portal for women with disabilities was established within the project Ona.ba.
“Equally different – young people build an inclusive society” was realized with the support of US Embassies and brought together young people with and without disabilities who gained knowledge about the values of diversity and inclusion. Project participants created and implemented local action plans for building inclusive societies. The situation of young people with or without disabilities and other affiliations in Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely conditioned by their negative perceptions of diversity, which results in reduced tolerance, negative views on life. The socially imposed identity of a certain group characterizes, excludes and isolates a person even though they do not choose to do so. An exceptional problem for members of marginalized groups, but also the community itself, is the low level of awareness that their diversity (disability, belonging to national minorities, LGBT population, etc.) becomes noticeable only due to interaction with society and obstacles. The problem is further aggregated by the fact that there are identities that are generally socially acceptable and exclude all other groups.
In Touch - "Accessible informal didactic tools for young people with disabilities"
Partners in the project with the Information Center for People with Disabilities "Lotos" Tuzla are: ABiCi Association (Italy), TDM Malta, Active Zone Outdoor (Cyprus), Beyond Barriers (Albania) and Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro and is funded by European Union. The project was born from research and exchange of best practices among partners working with young people with disabilities, who met other organizations with experience in organizing and creating non-formal activities and tools. Given that people with disabilities in the Western Balkans and Southern Europe face many common challenges, the project aims to contribute to ensuring accessible training materials, creating an enabling environment and new tools for working on the development of each local society, contributing to the inclusion and ensuring the full and equal participation of people with disabilities in all spheres of society. The project has influenced the capacity building of organizations working with young people outside the framework of formal learning and which have jointly developed a Handbook with new didactic non-formal tools in education, through adapted activities for people with disabilities, which will enable greater participation for all. The Handbook is based on non-formal and formal learning activities, electronically available for download for everyone, and it is an opportunity for all youth organizations across Europe and the world to innovate their approach and propose more inclusive activities for young people with disabilities. The mobile application that was created is an innovation for the category of people with disabilities who will test it and use it to find services that are free and accessible to everyone and includes mapped services intended for young people in order to create opportunities for young people to independently explore what is in their domain of interest and to use services that are available to them equally to all young people in general.
Coalition of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities of Tuzla Canton
The coalition of organizations of persons with disabilities of Tuzla Canton is an informal, coordinating body consisting of 5 organizations of persons with disabilities from the area of Tuzla Canton:
The goal of the Coalition is to advocate and work on the common interests of different categories of persons with disabilities from the Tuzla Canton, through monitoring the process of creating legal and other solutions, in order to improve the lives and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. The Coalition is engaged in planning and coordinating various actions for the purpose of ensuring a more favorable social position of different categories of persons with disabilities, while promoting positive practice, dignity and human rights.
The coalition realizes various activities such as the organization of campaigns with the aim of solving the problem of architectural inaccessibility, the realization of round tables and trainings. The Coalition of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities TK, within the framework of the MyRight program, actively worked to improve the position and quality of life of persons with disabilities through the improvement of the realization of the right to orthopedic and other aids and other rights. The coalition works successfully and influences the creation of cooperation with the representatives of the authorities, thereby striving to achieve successes in more favorable legal solutions for persons with disabilities.
Future activities will continue to be focused on developing capacities for effective joint action and influencing various stakeholders in the community who make political decisions that are of interest to persons with disabilities, while advocating and promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Special emphasis is placed on the rights guaranteed in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, e.g. the right to access quality education for persons with disabilities and other articles listed in the Convention. Therefore, special attention is paid to activities aimed at greater inclusion of young people with disabilities in the work and activities of the Coalition. Trainings are continuously implemented for new young people with disabilities, and the Youth Activity established within the Coalition actively works with the aim of improving conditions and equal participation in the community.