Possibility of employment, equal treatment, payment of one-time assistance. These are just some of the demands made by people with disabilities at the protest in Sarajevo on May 9th.
”I live in Sarajevo, and for nine years I have not been able to get to Sebilj in the city center,” explained Damir Salkic from Sarajevo.
Damir Salkic has been a disabled person since 2015. He told that he has the most problems with movement due to architectural barriers. Damir’s disability allowance amounts to 403 BAM(about 200 euros). That is not enough for his treatment.
At the protest in Sarajevo, people with disabilities pointed to discrimination in employment and low disability benefits amounting to around 400 BAM (200 euros). The protest was held in front of the Government building of the entity Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). Representatives of the entity government promised to help them in solving problems.
Equal status and equal opportunities
Zlatka Lekovic from Sarajevo is a hundred percent disabled. And she gets with 109 BAM. One medicine costs 80 BAM (about 40 euros).
”We don’t have support anywhere, wherever you go you get rejected or they close the doors on you,” pointed out Zlatka Lekovic from Sarajevo.
BiH does not have a single database on the number of persons with disabilities. It is estimated that there are about 295.000 of them. Support for persons with disabilities is the responsibility of both BiH entities.
”People with disabilities in BiH belong to the poorest and most marginalized social groups, according to the document “Analysis of systemic discrimination of people with disabilities based on the cause of disability”, published by the institution of the Ombudsman of BiH, Slobodna Evropa reports.
