Eleven persons with disabilities who are hired as trainees in 11 different companies in BiH soon will receive mentors who will accompany and advise them on their jobs over the next year. The mentor training was held from February 16 to 18 in Potoci, near Mostar, as part of a European Union-funded POWER project. Mentors are employees of companies where persons with disabilities have been given the opportunity for internships and will be the link between the employer, the trainee and the project itself.

The training for the mentors was led by Anesa Agović, Executive Director of Global Analytics in Sarajevo, and the aim of the training was to develop the knowledge and skills of the trainees for disability/trainee mentoring. During the training, topics such as types and models of disability, use of correct terminology in communication with persons with disabilities, characteristics of successful mentors, etc. were addressed.

Zlatko Malić, POWER Project Manager, emphasized the importance of the role of mentors in this process, as a key link in the development of the professional skills of persons with disabilities. In addition to its educational character, this training was also an opportunity to exchange experiences, practices, and meet and connect mentors.

In the previous phase of the project, eleven, persons with disabilities from BiH and ten from Montenegro were given the opportunity for one-year internships in different companies earlier this year. Apprenticeships involve a short-term opportunity for persons with disabilities to develop professional skills and gain work experience, which will in many ways increase the chances of employment and fulfillment of the right to work for persons with disabilities.

(source: caritas.ba)