Projects

Ongoing  projects:

Project "Talking Magazine”

The project "Informing the blind in accessible format – Talking Magazine - 2022"
Within this Project, informing blind people through the "Talking Magazine” has been provided in audio format. This magazine is issued by the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo, in MP3 format. The magazine is published monthly and distributed to blind and visually impaired persons in B&H and abroad. The magazine deals with all the topics that are of interest to the blind. During last 20 years, this Magazine publishing has been funded by the City of Sarajevo - City Administration

 The Association of the Blind Cantons of Sarajevo, in partnership with the Information Center for Persons with Disabilities ˝Lotos˝, Tuzla, implements the project ˝Disability and sexual and gender-based violence - capacity building against sexual and gender-based violence˝, which will be implemented in the period from October 2020. until September 2022. The project is supported by the organization MyRight - Empowers people with disabilities and Radio Hjälpen from Sweden.

 "I''''''''m here - visible and proud" project. The aim of this three-year project is to empower women with disabilities and involve them in social activities, and above all in the implementation of program activities of associations of people with disabilities. The project is implemented within the framework of the joint activities of MyRight in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is financed by the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sida, represented by the Embassy of Sweden in Sarajevo.

The project "Towards an understanding of disability based on human rights" This project aims at greater involvement of young people with disabilities in the work of the association, development and improvement of inclusive education and general advocacy for improving the position of people with disabilities in society. The project is part of MyRight''''''''s joint activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project is financed by MyRight - Empowers people with disabilities - Sweden.

Realized projects:

Project:" Improved capacities of the organizations of the blind in F B&H cantons 2015 – 2017”

This project is a continuation of the long-standing cooperation between the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo and the Swedish Association of the Blind ( SRF Stockholm ) , supported by SHIA / MyRight .

On the basis of acquired knowledge and experience , and in accordance with the recommendations of the evaluators and partners from Sweden , a new three-year project aimed at transferring knowledge gained in USKS to the organizations of the blind in FB&H was developed.

The overall objective of this Project is : " Increased level of social inclusion of blind people in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina" .

In accordance with the overall objective, Project objective is defined as : " Improved capacities of the organizations of the blind in 4 FB&H cantons, for more efficient advocacy on implementation of the CRPD."

In order to achieve the project objective, four project intermediate objectives are defined, which will practically, to the same extent , be realized during 3-year period in Sarajevo , Zenica- Doboj , Herzegovina- Neretva and Una- Sana Canton .

Through the implementation of activities within these four intermediate objectives, the following achievements are expected: creation of a system and methodology for transfering knowledge to other organizations of the blind in FB&H, , raising personal capacity of blind peopleensuring their efficient functioning in daily life , enhancing organizational and material capacities of organizations of the blind in selected cantons , in order to ensure their greater impact on decision -makers; creating conditions for the inclusion of the blind in networks and coalitions , and building partnerships with civil society organizations and government institutions .

Project :"Improved long-term sustainability of the Association of the Blind in the Sarajevo Canton and other organizations of the blind in the Federation through education, advocacy and awareness-raising  2018 – 2021”

This Project is a continuation of a long-term cooperation of the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo and the Union of the Blind from Sweden  and SRF Stockholm, supported

by MyRight. Based on gained knowledge and experiences, and in accordance with the recommendations of evaluators and partners from Sweden, a new 4-year project has been developed, which aim is to improve long-term sustainability of the Association of the blind of Canton Sarajevo and associations of the blind in Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Long-term objective of the project is: ”Improving sustainability of the associations of the blind, increasing their impact on decision-makers and increasing social inclusion of blind persons in Federation B&H”.

In accordance with long-term objective, Project objective is defined as:” Improved long-term self-sustainability of the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo and other organizations of the blind in Federation through education, advocacy and raising awareness”.

With the purpose to achieve Project objective, four immediate objectives are defined, which will be implemented during the following period of 4 years, in Canton Sarajevo, and blind persons from other organizations of the blind in Federation will also be involved in certain activities’ implementation. Through the implementation of activities, within these four immediate objectives, it is planned to achieve the following:: improvement of personal capacities of blind persons – new knowledge and skills, improvement of knowledge and skills of the associations’ of the blind employees, improvement of long-term sustainability of the associations of the blind, improvement of partner relationships with government institutions – decision-makers, raised awareness of the public on the CRPD, rights and needs of blind persons, increased participation of the organizations of the blind in networks and coalitions and more efficient cooperation with the media.

The project is funded by SIDA, MyRight - Sweden and the Swedish Association of the Blind.

IN – Implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities

Regardless of progress made in promotion and protection of persons with disabilities, which includes ratifying theUN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and bringing the strategies for advancement of social position of persons with disabilities at entities’ level, persons with disabilities remain one of the most vulnerable groups in BiH society and belong to groups that are amongst the most exposed to discrimination in all fields of life ( such as employment, transportation, education, social protection, sport…).

Having this in mind, five civil society organizations, of which four directly work with persons with disabilities, have created project with title "IN – Implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in BiH”. The main applicant is Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, whereas partner organizations are: Organization of amputees "UDAS” of Republic of Srpska, the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo, The Union of Associations for help to mentally disabled persons in Republic of SrpskaandAssociation of Paraplegics and Persons with Infatile Paralysis Federation of BiH(APPIP FBiH).

The project is designed to act in two directions – towards legal interventions (harmonization of domestic regulations at all levels with the UN Convention and removal of causes of persons with disabilities discrimination) and towards empowerment of organizations of persons with disabilities and their equal integration into social processes. The main approach will be based on human rights concept which emphasizes a person/individual, her/his possibilities, rights, obligations and responsibilities and not the disability as one of her/his characteristics, i.e. it begins from the right to be different and which sees the disability as a problem of the society which did not create the same conditions and possibilities for all citizens living in it regardless of their diversity.

Overall objective:is to contribute to equal integration of disabled persons into social processes and provide the unique enjoyment of the rights and freedoms of disabled persons on the whole BiH territory.

Purpose of project is improvement of life conditions of persons with disability, through harmonization of domestic legislation with the UN Convention, strengthening the capacities of organizations of disabled persons and its networking and affirmation of the human rights approach in solving problems of persons with disabilities.

Main project activities

- Establishment of universal web platform for persons with disabilities that will serve as a key source of data and exchange of information relevant for persons with disabilities.
- Analysis and harmonization of laws and regulations at all levels of BiH in comlience with UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Capacity building of organizations for persons with disabilities through organization of trainings and delivery of small grants.
- Preparation and development of strategy of efficient model of cooperation among organizations of persons with disabilities.
- Organization of meetings of Council for persons with disabilities BiH with a goal of support to their work.
- Organization of many visibility actions with a goal to promote project activities and awareness raising toward persons with disabilities.

Expected results

- Relevant laws and bylaws drafted based on analysis and consultation process with relevant authorities
- Capacities of organizations of persons with disabilities stregnthened and level of social inclusion of person with disabilities increased through implementation of trainings awarded projects in local communities
- Human rights approach in solving problem of PWD fully promoted through cooperation of CSO and media

The project is funded by Europen Union.

"Talking Magazine”

The project "Informing the blind in accessible format – Talking Magazine "
Within this Project, informing blind people through the "Talking Magazine” has been provided in audio format. This magazine is issued by the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo, in MP3 format. The magazine is published monthly and distributed to blind and visually impaired persons in B&H and abroad. The magazine deals with all the topics that are of interest to the blind. During last fifteen years, this Magazine publishing has been funded by the City of Sarajevo - City Administration

The project "Increasing social inclusion of blind people through education and purchase of tiflo-technical aids"
Through this project, funded by Centar Municipality in Sarajevo, increasing social inclusion of blind people living in Centar Municipality has been worked on.
Activities carried out are:
- Psychosocial support;
- Procurement of assistive devices;
- Various courses;
- Trips and meetings of the Association members.

Centar Municipality in Sarajevo has been co-financing similar projects since 2000.

Project "Making Audio Versions of the Laws"

In the period from August 27, 2018 to October 30, 2018, the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo  in partnership with the Central Election Commission of BiH, implemented the project "Making Audio Versions of the Laws". The objective of the project is to provide the Election Law in BiH, and the Law on Political Party Financing in BiH to the blind people in Bosnia and Herzegovina in an accessible audio form, so that blind people could participate in the electoral process more equally.

Main achieved results of the Project are: 1) The Election Law of BiH was prepared in audio form in three languages, Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian; 2) The Law on Political Party Financing in audio form was prepared in three languages:  Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian; 3) 600 CDs of recorded laws were distributed by mail, to all organizations of the blind in BiH; and 4) the recorded laws were published on the websites of the Central Election Commission of BiH and the Association of the Blind of Canton Sarajevo.

The project was funded by the Council of Europe