LOGO-Inclusion in December 2011, within the project “Inclusion against distrimination of persons with disabilities”, UG “Nešto Više” hired a new member of staff, who is person with disabilities (wheelchair users). Before entering the employment relationship, Jelena Backović volunteered at the Association for almost a year. During that period, Jelena, with her work, commitment and enthusiasm, achieved excellent results in all the tasks for which she was in charge. In addition to connecting us with a large number of organizations that advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities, Jelena actively participates in the development of projects aimed at strengthening the population of persons with disabilities, unfairly neglected by BiH society. One of these projects was finally recognized, and financially supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in BiH, where Jelena performs the function of project assistant.
It is inevitable to emphasize the importance of education that we, other team members, receive by working with Jelena:
she constantly teaches us about the daily needs of people with disabilities, how to deal with and work with people with disabilities, and the necessary adjustments in the Association. Following her instructions, we managed, little by little, to adjust our offices in Sarajevo and Mostar, so that Jelena could do her job on an equal footing with us. Jelena is in daily communication with public institutions, media, business sector, but also with potential project beneficiaries, people with disabilities, who are encouraged to apply for non-formal education in IT in order to be more competitive in the labor market tomorrow and increase their employment opportunities. Also, she performs all administrative tasks for the project, maintains user databases, project archives, etc. In addition, together with the project manager, he goes to all meetings with representatives of the public and private sector, and participates in media appearances in order to sensitize the general public about the importance of including people with disabilities in all social flows.
By her example and way of life, Jelena encourages and tells other people with disabilities in BiH that they can be equal members of society, but they need to use their basic rights more ( right to information, right to education, right to employment and work), and to be more active to choose opportunities for themselves to educate themselves, volunteer, connect with others, and find their place in society. Nešto Više wants to encourage its colleagues in the non-governmental sector, but also the public and pricate sectors to follow our example: open your doors to people with disabilities by giving them opportunities for education, volunteering, internships and employment.
