The first meeting of the Project Team for the implementation of the project ‘My First Opportunity’ was held at the City Administration. The project is aimed at improving inclusive education in Bijeljina schools, focusing on primary schools ‘Vuk Karadžić’ and ‘Meša Selimović’, which have the highest number of children with developmental difficulties. This project is part of the multi-year project ‘Sustainable Development Goals as a Foundation for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in BiH’, funded by the Government of Sweden and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), with coordination by the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in BiH.
 
Ankica Todorović from the City Department for Local Economic Development and European Integrations stated that this project plans to create a handbook that will help teaching staff improve their knowledge on methods and approaches in working with children with developmental difficulties, specifically in inclusive education. We will also organize workshops with parents of children with and without developmental difficulties to enhance the partnership in working with children and their education in schools.
“We will also organize workshops to break down prejudices among students with and without developmental difficulties, as we want to foster mutual support and a better understanding of issues. Through this project, we will build an inclusive playground in the yard of Primary School 'Meša Selimović' so that curricular and extracurricular activities can be conducted in a quality manner. We will also provide the necessary didactic materials, which are lacking in these two schools, as we aim to improve the quality of the teaching process,” emphasized Ankica Todorović.
 
The partner in the project ‘My First Opportunity’ is the Social Welfare Centre in Bijeljina. The total value of the project is 95,472 convertible marks. The donor is the Government of Sweden, which will provide 59,142 BAM, and the City of Bijeljina will allocate 35,332 BAM.