The Project Proposal Development and Marketing Training for Youth NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Sarajevo between 30 November and 2 December 2011. The Training was organized by the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the support of the World Bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    Azra Kaèapor Nurkiæ, the lecturer and expert of the World Bank, welcomed the participants and Mirjana Nikolic, the president of the Commission for the Coordination of Youth Issues, and Sanja Tanic on behalf of the World Bank, made opening statements.  18 young people from NGOs from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that their expectation was the desire to acquire new knowledge and to pursue partnerships with other training participants.  Also, several participants of the previous training organized by the Commission emphasized that they had implemented projects since that time.

The opportunity to become familiar with the process of the project proposal development and marketing during the three-day training sessions which were led by Mrs. , except youth in the NGO sector, had also the members of the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH.  The guest speakers gave the view from the donor perspective:  Jonathan Francis, the first secretary of the Swedish Embassy in Sarajevo, Katica Hajrulahoviæ on behalf of SIDA and Nela Kacmarcik from UNICEF.
     
The participants could practice what they learned on practical examples through the group work and the end of the training is carried out in that spirit:  representatives of each group presented a conceived project proposal which was evaluated by other groups and expert jury consisting of the representatives of donors.  Then the participants were presented with the certificates.

SARAJEVO, 6 DECEMBER 2011

The Conference on “Facing the Challenges for the Organizations Working with Youth with Disabilities” was held on 6 December 2011 at the Hotel Evropa in Sarajevo. It was organized by the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH and supported by the grant of the Republic of Italy under the Social Development Initiative for South East Europe II and the administrative support of the World Bank in BiH. The Conference brought together over 90 representatives of different organizations with the aim of developing recommendations that will be useful for organizations, donors and institutions when planning future activities to improve the quality of life for youth.  
Ms. Mirjana Nikolic, the president of the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH, Mr. Marco Zecchinato, the project manager of the Italian Development Agency, and Mr. Goran Tinjiæ, the senior World Bank official in BiH addressed the attendees at the opening ceremony. They shared their vision for the Conference with the participants and invited them to work hard and come to conclusions that will be constructive and far reaching and genuinely respond to the numerous challenges that youth with disabilities face every day.
           The honorary guest of the Conference, Mr. Oscar Sanchez, the World Champion in handcycling and fighter for the rights of youth with disabilities held an inspiring speech in which he shared his own life story with the participants. He stressed the importance of creating a positive attitude about life in youth with disabilities and spoke about how sport provides many opportunities for social and economic integration of persons with disabilities.
The following topics were addressed through workshops at the Conference:  
    Affirmation of youth with disabilities through sport and culture,
    Youth with intellectual disabilities - inclusion in life,
    Vocational rehabilitation and employment of youth with disabilities, and
    Intimate, sexual and family life of youth with disabilities.
The result of the Conference is the following recommendations:
•    Arrange media promotion of opportunities and success stories of people with disabilities in sport, culture and art;
•    Define a clear and transparent way of allocating funds to support activities and programs aimed at raising self-esteem through participation in sporting and cultural activities;

•    Create a platform/program for social and economic inclusion through the education system;

•    Adopt a unified model and the process of classification of disability based on the International Classification of the World Health Organization in this field;
Key actors: health institutions, NGOs and different levels of government;
•    Provide support to parents and guardians for the development of "responsible parenthood" and strengthen the ability of parents and guardians to seek their rights;

•    Promote integration and inclusion by transforming day care centers into the Society’s Resource Centres.

•    Support the deinstitutionalization and independent life of youth with intellectual disabilities through the development of support systems in local communities;

•    Strengthen the control and monitoring of the implementation system of conventions, laws and strategies for equal opportunities for persons with disabilities;

•    Raising sensitivity and awareness of employees, public servants in the employment services, institutions for vocational rehabilitation, as well as youth with developmental disabilities, parents and NGOs.

•    Provide support to employers and employees with disabilities to ensure long term employment. (Interdisciplinary team, monitoring and mentoring, focusing on other skills).

•    Improving communication and coordination between the various target groups interested in effective vocational rehabilitation and sustainable employment of youth with disabilities.                                                                                    
•    Review of occupations of people with disabilities in order to be harmonized with the needs of the market and adapt them to the specific needs of youth with disabilities, starting from physical disability, intellectual disability, hearing and vision impairment and somatic illnesses.

•    Provide support and promote income-generating activities, social businesses and social enterprises, and thus create more sustainable jobs for youth with disabilities.

•    Raising awareness about the importance of the right to intimate, sex and family life of people with disabilities.

•    Enable youth with disabilities and their families to enjoy the existing rights in the sphere of intimate, sexual and family life at all levels of government (counseling, education system, training of medical staff and other providers of public services, religious institutions, media, arts, home help services, child care).Improve the legal framework for protection from sexual harassment and abuse of children and youth with disabilities.

•    Lobby for the access to health facilities and information on reproductive and sexual health in local communities.