Project conference #RavnopravnoRazličiti (Different but Equal) was held on 7 September 2021 as a hybrid event at the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo and the ZOOM platform and gathered 60 participants from organizations of persons with disabilities, representatives of project local communities, public institutions and civil society organizations.
Conference was organized in the project “Communities of different but equal citizens” funded by the European Union and implemented by the Organization of amputees UDAS in partnership with the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banja Luka and the Association of Citizens “Nešto Više” to share project results and create space to reflect on project achievements by project beneficiaries and project team.
The project team pointed out that the project aimed to raise the capacity and level of involvement of civil society organizations in the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the field of social inclusion and rights of persons with disabilities and was organized as a continuous 3-year campaign to build capacity of networks of persons with disabilities, strengthen the inclusiveness of local authorities and civil society organizations and to create a joint approach of different actors in advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities.
During the project, 250 different events were organized, while almost 50% of the events have been organized online or as hybrid events since the beginning of the Covid pandemic 19. Project activities were organized not only by the project team but also by beneficiaries who have been empowered and supported in initiating activities in local communities which, among others, related to setting up peer support groups in overcoming the isolation of people with disabilities caused by the Covid pandemic 19 .
More than 100 persons with disabilities (PWDs) from the Network of Women with Disabilities and the Network of Mine Survivors participated in a series of education events and trainings to build and raise their capacities in establishing and facilitating peer support groups, advocacy for changes in local communities, inclusive employment and monitoring and reporting in the context of local, national and EU strategy, launching and running online campaigns.
Most significant results of the project include comprehensive accessibility analyzes conducted by people with disabilities – participants in targeted capacity building trainings- relating to access to health services, media and web content of public institutions, improving access to suffrage and community life. Based on these analyzes, concrete proposals for improving these aspects of accessibility were distributed to the relevant state and entity ministries and institutions.
During the project, internship programs for persons with disabilities and inauguration of positions of disability counselors in city administrations were successfully piloted. A number of campaigns were organized to promote the capacity, potential and contribution of persons with disabilities to community development, including launch of #RavnopravnoRazličiti award for leaders with disability that was already established as an annual disability raising event by the organizers.