A
REGIONAL PROJECT…
Share-SEE is a regional project
that implements activities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia including the UN administered
province of Kosovo.
The project started in January 2003 with the support of
the UK Department for International Development (DFID),
the Balkan Trust Fund, the U.S. State Department through
the International Trust Fund (ITF) and Handicap International
with the aim of building capacities of disabled people’s
organisations (DPOs) and to strengthen the disability
movement in South East Europe.
In January 2006, the project obtained support for an additional
3-years from the European Initiative for Democracy and
Human Rights (EIDHR) and has evolved to focus on Human
Rights and disability, advocating for policy reforms,
equalization of opportunities and anti-discrimination
legislation.
With the involvement of Shia and a funding from the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency, in January
2007, the project will continue with the aim of maintaining
the networks established in the region and linking local
DPOs with similar organizations from Sweden for exchanges
of experience and knowledge.
…
THAT AIMS TO… | top
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The project aims at the development of civil
society sustainable capacities, at the local and national
levels, to fight against discrimination faced by people
with disabilities and to influence policy reforms.
More specifically, the project pursues the following objectives:
1. An increase in the knowledge of DPOs on human rights
instruments and anti-discrimination legal frameworks and
mechanisms.
2. A strengthening of capacities of DPOs
to make concrete proposals and to build coalitions in order
to increase the impact of advocacy initiatives at local
and national levels.
3. A development of capacities of disability
groups for the monitoring of policy reform processes in
the role of watchdogs.
4. An awareness raising and training of
media representatives towards a change of perspective regarding
disability, abandoning the charity approach in favour of
a human rights based approach to disability.
5. The mainstreaming of disability
as a crosscutting human rights issue among other civic movements
especially within human rights organizations.
… INFORM, STRENGTHEN AND CONNECT…|
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Share-SEE four main pillars of activities
are:
1. Training and consultancy,
2. Conference, technical workshops and study visits,
3. Research and publications,
4. Technical and financial support to advocacy initiatives.
… RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS…|
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The project primarily support disabled
people’s organization in the region but include as
well generic human rights organizations and representatives
of media.
The project implements activities at the local, national,
regional and international level. Each activity involves
the contribution and participation of all relevant stakeholders
such as disability advocates, local and national authorities,
service providers and other professionals, members of European
institutions, international agencies and other relevant
civil society actors. .
Given the variety of actors involved, the project ensures
that disabled people’s organisations remain at the
centre of the project; actively participating in all activities,
at all levels.
Self-representation is the core principle of the project
well represented by the motto “Nothing about us without
us” which has been used by DPOs throughout the years
and as part of the global disability movement to achieve
full participation and equalization of opportunities for,
by and with persons with disabilities.
… TO ADVOCATE FOR THE FULL ENJOYMENT
OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES THROUGH EQUAL
OPPORTUNITIES AND FULL PARTICIPATION.
THE STEERING COMMITTEE |
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Based on a cross-disability
and cross-border partnership, the Steering Committee is
the governing body of the project. It is made up of six
core partners and is responsible for the overall management
of the project.
The core partners are:
- Association of Students with Disabilities, Serbia
- Centre for Independent Living, Serbia
- Information Centre LOTOS, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- POLIO PLUS, Macedonia
- Handicap International, Regional office for South East
Europe
- Shia – Swedish Organisations of Persons with Disabilities
International Aid Association, Sweden
Association
of Students with Disabilities (ASD)
www.adsyu.org
The Association of Students with Disabilities is a non-governmental,
non-partisan, non-profit organization addressing the issues
related to improvement of the position of young people and
studens with disability and their inclusion in society.
ADS is one among the first organizations in Serbia and Montenegro
to gather young persons with various types of disability
(regardless of their medical diagnoses), as well as young
people without disability (an inclusive, cross-disability
approach).
ASD Vision: Equal opportunities for all
ASD Mission: ASD fights for realization
and respect of human rights and equalizing opportunities
for young persons and students with disability through creating
conditions for inclusive formal and informal education and
application of the social model. The association is also
active at a regional level in the South Eastern Europe through
Network of youth and students with disability of South East
Europe and SHARE SEE project. ASD field of activities are:
• Services for students with disabilities
• Media campaigns
• Counseling (medical, psychological and psycho-social
support)
• Educational seminars, trainings, workshops, summer
schools…
• Equal opportunities scholarship program
• Employment empowerment program for young persons
with disability (computer skills and foreign languages courses,
training in various skills)
• Change of legislation, aiming at creating optimal
living and education conditions for persons with disability,
• Projects of adapting the means of transportation
projects and other services for young persons with disability.
Center for
Independent Living (CIL)
www.cilsrbija.org
Center for Independent Living Serbia was founded in 1996
on a cross-disability principles.
Today the Center works from its headoffice in Belgrade and
has 7 branch-offices in other towns of Serbia (Smederevo,
Jagodina, Leskovac, Nis, Cacak, Krusevac, Sombor) working
on promoting the philosophy of independent living of persons
with disabilities and creating conditions for its implementation
in Serbia. Accordingly, the mission includes:
• Advocacy for creating basic civil
and human rights of persons with disabilities
• Promoting social approach to disability
in all the segments of social life
• Affirming abilities of persons with disabilities,
the development of their potentials and personality
• Testing and promoting new services for
the support of persons with disabilities - Personal Assistance
Service
• Awareness raising on the need for
creating the accessible environment, including housing and
transportation
• Working on the double discrimination reduction
and promotion of the rights of women with disabilities.
Handicap International (HI)
www.hi-see.org
Handicap International is an international humanitarian
NGO present in more some 60 countries in the world. In South
East Europe, HI has been present in the region since early
1990 through post-emergency distributions, medical rehabilitation,
support to services, support to policy-making and to civil
society. Since 2003, it has regionalized its action with
a regional office in Belgrade and five field offices (Tirana,
Skopje, Pristina, Sarajevo et Herceg Novi). Handicap International
in South East Europe (HI-SEE) implements direct activities
in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro,
Serbia including the UN administered province of Kosovo.
Information Center for Persons with Disabilities “Lotos”
(IC LOTOS)
www.ic-lotos.org
Information Centre for Persons with Disabilities "Lotos"
is non-profit making organization which operates at the
area of entire Bosnia and Herzegovina. Information Centre
gathers individuals with or without disability who are interested
to contribute to the implementation of the mission with
their own work either on professional or volunteer basis.
Information Centre has arisen from the idea that persons
with disabilities should be positively represented in community.
In terms of that, the idea had been supported by British
Charity Oxfam (GB) in 1996. In November 1997, Information
Centre was registered with the Ministry of Justice in accordance
with local law as non-governmental organization. The purpose
of Information Centre is to influence the creation of democratic
civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which disability
issues will be considered as human rights issues and persons
with disabilities will have no barriers trying to experience
education, employment, health and social insurance, indoor
and outdoor freedom of movement.
Polio Plus - Movement Against
Disability
www.polioplus.org.mk
Polio Plus – Movement Against Disability is a Macedonian
cross disability multi-ethnic NGO that focuses strategically
on achieving legislative policy change through self-advocacy
and raising awareness about disability as a question of
human rights.
Polio+ efforts are mostly concentrated on legislative/policy
change where through active drafting of amendments, interpreting
and comparing the current legislative provisions with similar
in the region, establishment of Inter party parliamentary
lobby group (IPPGL), civic initiative for passing of Systematic
law on disability and advocating for adaption and implementation
of UN convention on rights of people with disability, changes
are initiated or implemented on the state level. Polio+
plays an important role on influencing the government to
introduce progressive approaches to dealing with disability
related issues. Polio + also have strong publishing activity
where among other publications, the most significant was
the role of “Vulkan” magazine, a very creative
and innovative type of magazine dealing with variety of
topics related to everyday lives of persons with disability
in their communities.
Shia
www.shia.se
Shia stands for
Solidarity
Human Rights
Inclusion
Accessibility
Shia – the Swedish Organisations' of Disabled Persons
International Aid Association – is a non-profit organisation
that was formed in 1981 during the UN’s International
Year of Disabled Persons. Today Shia consists of 27 Swedish
organisations of persons with disabilities which are actively
involved in international development cooperation.
The goal of Shia’s projects
is to support the work that disabled people and their organisations
are carrying out for increased rights, equality and inclusion.
Shia’s objective is to support the member organisations’
development cooperation in developing countries in order
to improve living conditions for people with disabilities,
to strengthen the opportunities available for people with
disabilities to set up and develop their own organisations,
and to convey their experiences and know-how to national
and international bodies through mobilisation of opinion
and lobbying.
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