prijava
SARAJEVO, September 29 (FENA) - The implementers of the USAID/INSPIRE Human Rights Support Program have signed agreements with four non-governmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, related to the human rights of the LGBTQI community.
Each of the signatory organizations should contribute within its own scope to the core objective of this aspect of USAID support.
The signatories are the Sarajevo Open Center, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Tuzla Open Center and the Youth Journalist Association in BiH.
The Director of the USAID Mission to BiH, Courtney Chubb, in a statement to reporters before the signing, recalled USAID's long history of support in the fight for the human rights of vulnerable groups.
"I am looking forward to following the work of these organizations and celebrating every success together with them," she said.
In the next two years, as she stated, four grants should initiate positive changes in the way of treating marginalized groups, because all people have the right to equal treatment regardless of differences, even those related to sexual orientation.
"Human rights are universal. What we expect for ourselves, we must enable to others and especially to vulnerable categories of population," said Chubb.
USAID/INSPIRE Program Director-General Jasmin Bešić states that USAID allocates around 440,000 KM for the implementation of these agreements and that the signatory organizations will carry out activities in the next two years to strengthen the status and respect for the human rights of the LGBT population.
The USAID program supports not only this category but also other vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, potential victims of human trafficking and women from marginalized categories who want to engage in entrepreneurship.
Bešić announced USAID's engagement with these groups within the program for the next four years.
He added that the signatory associations have the obligation to strengthen organizational capacities, establish better cooperation with target groups and BiH institutions in order to achieve the goals related to the groups from the program.
Emina Bošnjak, Executive Director of the Sarajevo Open Center, expressed satisfaction with this USAID support, which, according to her, is not only financial but also includes assistance in the development and new challenges of the association she represents.
The goal is to strengthen LGBT groups, with a focus on the rights of transgender people as the most vulnerable within that population and to contribute to the creation of a functional system, effective in protecting their human rights.
The Executive Director of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Branko Todorović, pointed out that it is important to open space in local communities with the aim of eliminating discrimination against the LGBTQI population.
According to him, during the implementation of the program, it will be important to involve participants from local communities, taking into account the applicability of the principle that we are all equal when it comes to human rights.
(FENA) S. R.
