OSCE Supports Workshop on Draft Analysis of Gender Mainstreaming Process at Local Level

OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a workshop for municipal gender focal points in Montenegro on 8 and 9 December 2016 in Podgorica. The event provided an opportunity for representatives of municipalities, civil sector and the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights to meet and discuss the draft of the analysis on gender mainstreaming at the local level. 

The document has been developed by a team of national and regional experts focusing on the obligations deriving from the Memoranda of Understanding on promotion of gender equality, that were signed by all Montenegrin municipalities, the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and the Mission. In particular, the workshop focused on institutional practices related to supporting gender equality, commitments defined by the Law on Gender Equality and the role of the Municipal Gender Focal Point Network. The 20 participants exchanged best practices and discussed ways to overcome challenges.

Opening the event, Lia Magnaguagno, Head of the Democratization Programme in the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, emphasized that the gender mainstreaming process at the local level was supported by the Mission from its very beginning. "In order to encourage a positive change, the Mission supported over 150 trainings in the past 5 years and initiated the establishment of the Municipal Gender Focal Point Network, " Magnaguagno said. 

The workshop is part of a project implemented in partnership with the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights. Building on data previously gathered from the municipalities as well as the recommendations developed during this workshop, the experts will finalize the analysis that will be presented in the beginning of 2017.