OSCE Mission supports three Montenegrin municipalities in developing Local Action Plans on Gender Equality
As part of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro’s ongoing support to municipalities in achieving gender equality, the Mission, in partnership with the Department for Gender Equality within the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, organized three workshops to support the development of local action plans on gender equality in the municipalities of Rožaje, Mojkovac and Cetinje from 10 to 15 April 2019.
The workshops were attended by representatives of the municipal secretariats, judicial and police bodies, primary and secondary schools, the media and non-governmental organizations. The interactive workshops were facilitated by two experts in gender equality, Branka Vlahović and Slavica Striković.
A model local action plan, developed in 2017 with the Mission’s support, was presented to the working groups as a practical guideline that can be customized to the needs of each municipality.
“New local action plans should be harmonized with the National Gender Equality Strategy and the Plan of Activities for Achieving Gender Equality,” said Biljana Pejović, Head of the Department for Gender Equality in the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights. She emphasized the importance of long-term co-operation with the OSCE Mission, which has contributed to the promotion of gender equality policy at the local level.
The one-day workshop held in Rožaje on 10 April provided an opportunity for a group of six men and three women to discuss and suggest solutions for tackling the issue of violence against women, which has been recognized as a priority for their local action plan.
During the two-day workshop in Mojkovac on 11 and 12 April, the participants identified current issues in the spheres of women’s health and violence against women, and defined concrete activities designed to address these topics to be included in the local action plan.
The workshop in Cetinje on 15 April showed that there is still room for improvement with respect to raising awareness on domestic violence and increasing the level of institutional responsibility within the municipality.
The OSCE Mission will continue to support Montenegrin municipalities in achieving gender equality at the local level. A two-day workshop in Ulcinj addressing similar topics will be held shortly.