On Friday, January 24, 2025 a final event for the project “Borders that connect – Initiative to enhance the employability of persons with mental disabilities (PwMD) in Serbia and Montenegro” was organized in Nikšić. This project aims to improve the employment of people with mental disabilities in Serbia and Montenegro, supported by the IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Serbia-Montenegro 2014-2020.
The project was implemented by the NGO Impuls from Nikšić in partnership with the PI Day center for children with disabilities and people with disabilities Nikšić and Humanitarian organisation „Child’s Heart“.
The event brought together representatives of institutions, the local community, the non-governmental sector, and entrepreneurs, with special attention given to presenting the project’s results.
“The project aimed to increase the employment opportunities for people with mental disabilities in the border area by promoting social agriculture and engaging in the collection, processing, and packaging of medicinal herbs. Guided by this goal, the project contributed to improving the work and social competencies of 30 people with intellectual disabilities. Today, we can proudly say that we have all learned together, that this experience has made us open to new challenges and helped us overcome prejudices. We wanted to share the results of this project with you and once again call on the wider community to show more understanding through concrete activities and support these young people as equal members of society.” said Ivana Rojević, a representative of the Humanitarian Organization “Children’s Heart.”
“During the two-year implementation of the project, numerous activities were carried out: mapping people with mental disabilities in the mentioned municipalities, creating a social agriculture program, creating and conducting training for social mentors, implementing two seven-day training sessions for 30 people with mental disabilities, carrying out social agriculture programs in the field, organizing a series of informational meetings for families and local decision-makers, sensitizing the local business sector and the social community on the importance of providing employment opportunities for people with mental disabilities, conducting four roundtables to inform local stakeholders, promotional and field activities through printed materials, brochures, billboards, and participation in fairs (10 fairs) where our project participants showcased their final product and demonstrated their ability to manage the entire process of collecting, processing, and packaging medicinal herbs. A brochure and film were produced as a result of the project. Through these activities, people with mental disabilities significantly improved their work skills. The social agriculture program enabled them to spend time in nature, which had a therapeutic effect on their mental health and work competencies. The primary result of the project was achieved, namely, four project participants out of thirty were employed, with two in Montenegro and two in Serbia. This is the culmination of the project’s work, as we built this story step by step together. The project ‘Bridges that Connect’ has shown that change is possible, and examples of successful employment speak louder than words.” concluded Sonja Nikčević, the project manager from the Association “Impuls” in Nikšić.