On the occasion of the 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, UNICEF the Association “Give us a chance” organized the cultural-entertaining event for children with and without disabilities in Bosnian Cultural Center in Sarajevo.
The President of the Association “Give us a chance”, Ines Kavalec, said:
“We cannot observe children through the things that they cannot do; We have to give them a chance to show their abilities because they have the right to do so. All of us should fight for their rights.”
The video “It’s About Ability” was premiered at the event, with popular BiH singers Laka and Lela being presented as the first “Friends of the Campaign”. Photos taken in Mjedenica Centre by Dzenat Drekovic were exhibited, while the story of inclusion of children with and without disabilities was highlighted by numerous performances.
The UNICEF Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Florence Bauer, said:
“To achieve the full inclusion of children with disabilities into society, it is necessary to overcome physical obstacles, to ensure their full inclusion into mainstream education and to support the establishment of day care centers, but more importantly, we have to overcome prejudices and to change mindsets in order to see the abilities of these children and to accept them as equal members of society”.
The campaign “It’s about Ability” was launched in July 2013 and had conducted many activities in cooperation with partners, with aim to raise awareness and improve attitudes and actions of general public towards children with disabilities and their families.
Natalia Dianiskova, Head of Operations Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation at the EU Delegation to BiH also attended the event.
The EU continues to support actions aimed at the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina through project “Enhancing the Social Protection and Inclusion System for Children in Bosnia and Herzegovina” which is implemented by UNICEF and funded by the EU since 2008 with 4.6 million Euros from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The Project objective is to help build a system that will provide good policies of social protection and social inclusion for children and their families.
