prijava
SARAJEVO, January 3 (FENA) - When it comes to last year, it will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic that more or less affected the life of each individual, especially in the context of the introduction of measures of restriction of liberty that were almost unthinkable.
“We have all felt the consequences of the introduced measures against the pandemic. However, some groups were affected by these restrictions more than others. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the temporary restriction of certain freedoms in order to bring the disease under control significantly affected various groups, especially women, because unfortunately, the number of cases of domestic violence increased in that period,” said the Minister of Human Rights and Refugees Miloš Lučić in an interview with FENA.
As he pointed out, safe houses in such circumstances could not accept new users because at the beginning of the pandemic they could not provide appropriate epidemiological conditions. The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees provided 100,000 KM from the budget for safe houses, and in cooperation with USAID, an additional 165,000 KM was provided.
“The COVID-19 epidemic has left negative consequences on the population, so that an increased number of cases of social discrimination has been noticed, and these are primarily challenges related to job retention, education and access to health services,” Lučić emphasizes.
He further states that people with disabilities were obviously affected by the newly created conditions caused by the coronavirus, so that the already difficult situation of this population further deteriorated. The confinement and physical isolation had a particularly bad effect on the mental health of this vulnerable population, which particularly affected children in the autism spectrum during the state of emergency.
During the pandemic, the Roma population was particularly affected, so the Ministry provided about 3,500 humanitarian packages for them. Housing, employment, and health care of Roma were also one of the priorities of the Ministry, so during the past year, about two million marks were allocated for that purpose.
Funds have also been provided for the Interreligious Council, the Red Cross, the Jewish community, national minorities, families of missing persons, persons with disabilities, victims of trafficking, and support to local communities for projects with emigration.
“Support and protection of human rights of marginalized groups are also on the list of priorities of the Ministry. We supported USAID's INSPIRE program for the equality of the LGBT population in BiH. As a society, we are obliged to promote human rights and freedoms and ensure their respect with advanced measures,” said Lučić.
(FENA) L. N.
