Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina, with partner organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, including Caritas Montenegro, organized the First job fair for the employment and employability of PWDs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The job fair was organized within the project P.O.W.E.R on 12th of June in Mostar in order to promote the rights to employment and employability of PWDs, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
More than 40 exhibitors from various institutions, organizations, associations of persons with disabilities, social enterprises, companies and protective workshops attended the fair.
Among them, local social inclusion initiatives of PWDs supported within the SOCIETIES project were also presented: Cantonal Association for Mutual Assistance in the Sore Mind “Apel” from Sanski Most – cleaning service “Quick Elmo”; ProReha Association – Center for professional rehabilitation, retraining and training of persons with disabilities and other hard-to-reach groups – social enterprise Greens ltd.;; Association “Lotosica Humanitarian Organization” from Tuzla – souvenir production. Association of Parents and Children with Special Needs „Vedri osmijeh“, as one of the organizers of the job fair, presented their activities of work training and employment of people with disabilities through agricultural workshops, which were funded by the SOCIETIES project.
The job fair was also attended by representatives of the SOCIETIES project as well as the project partner Association for mutual assistance in mental distress TK “Fenix” from Tuzla.
During the fair, workshops were held where visitors could get more information on employment incentives for PWDs and active job search. A special presentation of the national Policy Papers and Recommendations on social inclusion of people with disabilities and mental disorders was held as well. Presented Policy Papers and Recommendations were the result of the work of Social Inclusion Working Groups established within the SOCIETIES project. The members of these WG were representatives of civil society associations working in the field of disability and mental health, and representatives of public institutions and authorities.
The job fair was organized within the project P.O.W.E.R, funded by the European Union through the IPA II cross-border cooperation program Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro implemented by Caritas BiH with partner organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Special Representative The EU in BiH, together with ten trainees of the POWER project officially opened the fair.
Project SOCIETIES aims to assist civil society organizations in upgrading technical skills, or to contribute to the social inclusion of people with disabilities through the implementation of EU standards in South East Europe. The project is being implemented in five countries of Southeast Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo* and Serbia with the support of experts from Italy and Bulgaria. The implementation of the project involves 16 partner organizations, including Caritas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The projected duration is 48 months, until the end of 2019. The project is funded by the EU funds under the program of support for regional and thematic networks of civil society organizations.