Public hearings on the Draft Law on Professional Rehabilitation, Training, and Employment of Persons with Disabilities will be held on May 13 and 15, starting at 5:00 PM in the large hall of the Brčko District Assembly. The citizens' association "Faith and Hope" and its partners, who have been following the legislative process, have announced their attendance and participation in the hearings to present additional proposals and amendments.

“We have already submitted a series of comments, some of which were accepted. Among other things, we advocated for penalties for non-compliance with the law to be imposed on the managers of public institutions, rather than the institutions themselves – that change has been adopted. Additionally, our request for public institutions to be obliged to procure 20% of their goods and services from companies employing persons with disabilities has been reintroduced into the draft,” said Nataša Damjanović from the association “Faith and Hope.”

However, the association points out that the proposed law still lacks sufficiently strong mechanisms to ensure the actual employment of persons with disabilities, particularly in public institutions.

“The proposed fine for institutions that do not employ persons with disabilities is 25% of the average salary. Based on experience from other parts of the country, we believe this will not be a strong enough incentive for meaningful change,” Damjanović added.

One particularly problematic provision, she says, concerns the preferential right of persons with disabilities in employment. “According to the current draft, a person with a disability will have priority only if they are tied in points with another candidate without a recognized disability. This provision does not offer a real advantage to candidates with disabilities. We advocate for an amendment stating that a person with a disability must be selected and employed if ranked among the top five candidates, in order to meet the required quotas,” the association stated.

The association “Faith and Hope” and its partners also announced that they will submit additional amendments during the public hearings, including:

further easing of requirements for establishing companies that employ persons with disabilities,
introduction of incentives for businesses that procure goods and services from such companies.
We invite all interested citizens, organizations, and media to attend the public hearings and contribute to the adoption of a law that will genuinely improve the position of persons with disabilities in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A strong community begins with inclusion – employing persons with disabilities benefits the whole society!