We continue working to improve the position of women and build a strong community dedicated to supporting and empowering women at the local level.
So today we organized a working breakfast with members of the Parliament of Montenegro. The invitation was answered by Zdenka Popović, Aleksandra Despotović, Radinka Ćinćur, Jevrosima Pejović, Sonja Milatović, Maja Vučelić, Slađana Kaluđerović and the co-presidents of the Women’s Club of the 27th convocation of the Assembly, Vesna Pavićević and Branka Bošnjak, with whom we discussed the best ways to promote gender equality, and creating a platform for active participation of women in the political process, enabling them to jointly shape policies that directly affect their lives.
The results of the previous work of the Civic Alliance on the creation of a platform for achieving gender equality were presented, as well as the continuation of our mission through the “Networking Platform for Gender Equality” project, which we are implementing with the support of the US Embassy through the Small Grants Program of the Democratic Commission.
We drew the attention of the MPs to the seventh edition of the Report on Women’s Rights in the Western Balkans, which was prepared by the organization “Kvinna till Kvinna”. Focusing on the period 2022-2023, it was concluded that women’s rights and the social position of women in the Western Balkans have noticeably declined. This is confirmed by the increase in the rate of femicide, the decrease in access to social and economic rights, as well as increased violence and threats against women’s human rights defenders. In addition, it is important to point out that the available data support the fact that in Montenegro there is a problem of equality in almost all segments of social life. The representation of women in management positions is disproportionate to their participation in society. Women’s participation in political life is still limited: there are no women among political party leaders and very few in party leadership. Electoral lists meet only the minimum requirements in terms of gender equality. The gender equality index for Montenegro for 2023 (59.3) is slightly over 9 points below the EU-28 average (68.6), mainly due to insufficient political and social participation of women, economic inequality and unequal division of responsibilities.
Branka Bošnjak praised the idea of establishing aldermen’s clubs and pointed out that she is sure that it will be a successful story through which aldermen and MPs can network. She emphasized that councilors are the ones who can convey problems and challenges from the field, then convey them to the deputies in the Parliament of Montenegro, who will adopt what is important through parliamentary acts. Because of all these tasks, it is important to find proactive female councilors who want to work for the benefit of the community and present them with what they can do for the community through decision-making in councilor parliaments.
Vesna Pavićević emphasized that it is important to consider ideas and make decisions in order to improve women’s rights in Montenegro, and thanked her for initiating the idea of establishing women’s clubs, and emphasized the importance of the Civic Alliance, which through this project makes all this possible. She recalled one of the activities of the women’s club from Bijelo Polje, where seven women received public recognition from the municipality for their contribution to the promotion of the city in various fields such as tourism, science, health, entrepreneurship, gender equality and others.
The most important goal is that every joint decision is reached by consensus and that these same decisions are then transferred to the parliamentary clubs, and that the women from the Government act as a team. In order to achieve this as soon as possible, it is important to appoint coordinators for the north and south.
Maja Vučelić mentioned as very important shelters for women victims of violence and the importance of establishing them in all municipalities, and it was concluded that in order to achieve this goal it is important to include the Municipality as an institution responsible for assigning space, then UNICEF in order to adequately train staff to work with this vulnerable category, but also the Civic Alliance in order to organize useful workshops for them.
We remind you that with the support of the Civic Alliance, in the previous year, women’s councilor clubs were formed in Bijelo Polje, Nikšić and Ulcinj, which, by signing the Platform on Cooperation, formed the Network of Women’s Councilor Clubs in Montenegro. Subsequently, women’s councilor clubs were formed in the capital Podgorica and Bar, Rožaje and Plav, and the formation of one such club is expected in Gusinje as well. Most of the newly founded clubs have expressed their intention to become part of the Network of Women’s Councilor Clubs in Montenegro, which creates preconditions for joint effective action in local communities.
It is of great importance to form a platform on the cooperation of women’s councilor clubs with the future Women’s Club of the Parliament of Montenegro as soon as possible, as well as to create a strategy on further joint action for the period 2024-2026 with the Action Plan, where the signatories will undertake to implement a set of activities in the following period .
Through cooperation in the implementation of a series of activities in the coming period, the capacities of local female politicians for advocating gender equality and their joint action in their communities will be strengthened.
In the coming period, the Civic Alliance will send an official invitation to all female councilors in Montenegro to follow their colleagues from other municipalities and form women’s councilor clubs, as well as to join the Network of Women’s Councilor Clubs in Montenegro. On this way, I can count on the administrative and logistical support of the Civic Alliance. United and connected with the future Women’s Club of the Parliament of Montenegro, local politicians can make an immeasurable contribution to improving the social and political position of women in Montenegro.
