ASSOCIATION LIFE WITH DOWN SYNDROME FBIH AND FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT BUREAU SIGNED MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION

SARAJEVO, MARCH 29 (ONASA) – The Director of the Federal Employment Agency Helena Lončar and the President of the Association “Life with Down Syndrome of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina” Sevdija Kujović signed today a Memorandum of Cooperation on creating assumptions for the employment of people with Down syndrome on the open labor market .
The goal of this cooperation is to establish more effective support for people with Down syndrome in order to increase their employment opportunities on the open labor market, as well as to strengthen mutual cooperation in the way of creating public policies and adopting relevant programs and measures in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The cooperation includes the engagement of the signatories of the memorandum within their competences and capacities in the implementation of measures and activities that contribute to better employability of people with Down syndrome in the open labor market, which will represent the improvement of the mediation and employment system in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for people with disabilities.
“With this Memorandum, we express our willingness for the Institute to make a full contribution to the employment of persons with disabilities, which would reduce overall unemployment, and at the same time increase the opportunities for young people with Down syndrome to find an adequate job and join the open labor market in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, as one of the objectives of the Project is to improve the knowledge and skills of the professional staff of the cantonal/county employment services, needed to support people with disabilities (Down syndrome) in looking for work and employment in the open labor market, and maintaining employment, which also represents a positive step forward compared to the current practice and opens up new opportunities”, said the director of the Federal Employment Agency, Helena Lončar.
“From this cooperation, we expect certain reforms in the mediation and employment system in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will mean, first of all, raising the competences of counselors in services and employment bureaus for working with people with disabilities and the establishment of innovative support measures for unemployed people with Down syndrome . Cooperation will be extended to employers, from whom we expect to ensure reasonable adaptation of the working environment in order to ensure that disability is not an excuse for not employing people with disabilities”, said the president of the Life with Down syndrome association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.