"I believe this is the most important thing for people with disabilities that has happened in the last few years in Zenica", said Harun Aliefendić after a successful meeting with representatives of the City Administration of Zenica, led by the mayor. Representatives of the Association of Paraplegics and Individuals with Cerebral Palsy, Selvedin Dedić and Harun Aliefendić, did not hide their satisfaction with the fact that the mayor of Zenica accepted their Initiative for including funding for representative organizations of people with disabilities and civilian victims of war. 

"The goal we want to achieve in this case is for the organizations of people with disabilities that have representative status to be recognized in the budget and to become the organizations with which significant issues concerning people with disabilities will be discussed and negotiated in the future. Unfortunately, what we encounter as people with disabilities is, in most cases, the non-implementation of existing legal solutions", explained Harun Aliefendić. The adoption and implementation of this Initiative will contribute to a systematic and legal resolution of the problems that these individuals have faced for years. 

"This initiative, as well as any activities that will be carried out in the upcoming period, should result in improving the status of people with disabilities and their active involvement in the city through their organizations and associations", said Fuad Kasumović, the mayor of Zenica.

The Association emphasized that organizations for people with disabilities in Zenica, as well as in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, are constantly growing and that they strive to achieve results through their advocacy that would make Zenica and the ZDK comfortable and suitable for people with disabilities. "The result is evident, as we have succeeded in having our Initiative for including the funding of representative organizations of people with disabilities and civilian victims of war approved by the mayor and the relevant city services. Next year, we will be the first city to have funding for these organizations in the budget", Harun Aliefendić emphasized.

According to the Law on Organizations and Representative Organizations of People with Disabilities and Civilian Victims of War of the Federation of BiH, mechanisms for funding these organizations at the local level are defined according to budget possibilities, either directly or through a public call. The next step is the official inclusion of the Initiative in the Zenica City budget to ensure continuous funding for representative organizations and associations of people with disabilities. This would make Zenica the first city in the Federation of BiH to establish the sustainability of the work of these organizations and associations, thereby enabling and improving the implementation of their programs.