The city of Bijeljina is on its way to becoming the third city in Republika Srpska to offer personal assistance services. At today’s session, the Board of Directors of the Public Institution Center for Social Work Bijeljina adopted the Rulebook on Providing Personal Assistance Services for Persons with Disabilities in this city. This key document has now come into effect, paving the way for the next step in the long-awaited implementation process.

It is worth noting that in October, the Center for Social Work held a working meeting attended by representatives of local organizations for persons with disabilities, where observations were shared, and suggestions for improving the Rulebook were made. Less than a month later, the Rulebook has been officially adopted.

“The Rulebook defines the eligibility criteria for accessing the right to personal assistance, the procedure for obtaining this right, and its financing. The service is available to individuals over the age of 18, focusing on socially active adults. Our primary goal now is to ensure the service is fully operational and accessible to as many people as possible,” stated Vesna Savić, Secretary of the Center for Social Work Bijeljina.

The Rulebook was developed and ultimately adopted following an initiative by the Association of Women with Disabilities "Impuls" from Bijeljina, whose members enthusiastically welcomed the decision. “To be honest, it’s a great satisfaction to see the results of our initiative. When we started, we were optimistic and confident that we would achieve this outcome. Organizations for persons with disabilities bear a certain responsibility to their users to provide this service and uphold their rights. We are all open to dialogue and hope this process will continue to progress,” they stated.

Following this significant milestone, a series of new activities will be initiated to enable the full implementation of personal assistance services in Bijeljina. The first step will involve the Center for Social Work issuing a public call for organizations interested in providing the service. Once the selection process is complete, the service will officially begin.