Discussions on gender policies, gender equality and improving the capacity and position of women in social life at the local level continued on Tuesday in Plav and Gusinje with councilors of the assemblies of these two municipalities. In addition to the expressed readiness to work on improving the position of women at the local level, councilors from Plav and Gusinje also showed interest in continuing the first steps taken and approaches to the Network of Women’s Clubs in the assemblies of the municipalities of Montenegro.
At the meetings, we discussed the problems and challenges faced by women in their communities, which is why local councilors want to get involved in the improvement of gender policies in this way.
When it comes to Gusinje, the most important issues that need to be resolved are the departure of young people, the impossibility of employment, the lack of cultural content and the like. Among other things, the councilors pointed out that the municipality of Gusinje does not have a high school, a library, a bookstore, a local community, or a factory, which is an obvious deficiency and further demotivates the residents to stay there. That is why one of the councilors’ proposals is for the Parliament of Montenegro to pass a special law concerning the development of the north of the country, because, as they say, they believe that life in Gusinje and the north would improve in that way.
Representatives of five political parties were present at the meeting with Plav councilors, who advocate that politics should not be decisive when it comes to the topic of gender equality and solving the challenges of women in the community. During the conversation, numerous ideas and plans for the future period were highlighted, noting significant potential for joint work and cooperation. Councilors expressed interest in focusing on supporting women’s entrepreneurship, improving women’s health, and general education and raising awareness of key topics that concern women. Councilors expressed their desire to cooperate with other clubs in order to provide support to women in Plav, while providing incentives for further work. In addition, they informed us that they have already signed an agreement on the formation of a women’s councilor club in their municipal assembly. Insufficient awareness of citizens about key problems and lack of information at the municipal level is still recognized as a challenge. The lack of local television and radio makes the distribution of information even more difficult, which is a serious problem for the timely and adequate delivery of important information.
It is important to point out that at the meetings, the green light was given for further cooperation, as well as the expansion of the initiative to form the Network of Women’s Clubs, which already exists in Bijelo Polje, Ulcinj and Nikšić. We would like to remind you that these three municipalities have already signed the Cooperation Platform and thus became members of the successfully established Network of Women’s Councilor Clubs. The aforementioned cooperation represents a significant step towards achieving gender equality, but at the same time improving the quality of life of women in less developed municipalities.
The activity was organized as part of the “Networking Platform for Gender Equality” project, which was supported by the US Embassy through the Small Grants Program of the Democratic Commission.
