The fund should not be in the service of party goals

The document states, among other things, that the situation of Roma and Egyptians remains worrisome and that it requires the urgent attention of authorities at all levels.

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"Empowering Roma and Egyptians": Roma in front of the Bar Municipality building (illustration), Photo: Marija Pešić
"Empowering Roma and Egyptians": Roma in front of the Bar Municipality building (illustration), Photo: Marija Pešić
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The Advisory Committee for the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe (CoE) for the Protection of National Minorities assessed that in the last five years, despite strong political and social turbulence, further aggravated by the influence of external actors, Montenegro remained dedicated to the rights of minorities and active in the promotion of their culture and identity.

In the new report, published today, which assesses the current situation and the implementation of the recommendations given to Montenegro in 2019, it is written, however, that the position of Roma and Egyptians remains worrisome and requires the urgent attention of authorities at all levels in order to solve local problems that are, among other things, related to housing, documentation and access to health care.

"Judging by the visit of the Advisory Committee, among some local authorities there is an obvious lack of capacity and knowledge in the field of human rights, as well as apathy towards the dominant problems affecting national minorities".

The report states that it is necessary to undertake joint efforts to intensify the empowerment of Roma and Egyptian women, as well as to improve the access of Roma and Egyptians to education.

The advisory committee called on the Montenegrin authorities to revise the appointment procedure to the Commission for evaluating projects of the Fund for the Protection and Realization of Minority Rights, in order to ensure that all national minorities are represented in it. They call on the government to "take steps to solve the problem of instrumentalization of the Fund in the service of party-political goals".

"It is necessary to provide training to members of national minorities in order to enable them to apply for Fund projects on an equal basis with organizations, as well as monitoring and evaluating projects in terms of their effectiveness, among other things, raising awareness of the cultures and identities of national minorities, while strengthening intercultural understanding should be improved comprehensively".

The advisory committee also calls on the authorities to assess the effects of existing measures in the field of policies to strengthen the integration of society as a whole, and to draw up a coherent and broad-based strategy for strengthening common civic identity on the basis of common interests developed and defined in an open and participatory manner. .

The Committee calls on the authorities to prioritize access to adequate housing for Roma and Egyptians, especially in the settlement of Bijela Gora and its surroundings in Ulcinj.

"It is necessary to build capacity at the local level and mobilize sustainable funding to enable local and national authorities to effectively coordinate the response to inadequate housing, including solving problems with documents and through effective consultation with members of the communities concerned".

The report states, among other things, that the authorities should ensure effective access to secondary and higher education for Roma and Egyptians, especially by covering the costs of exams in the final year of high school, which such students face disproportionately, as well as by ensuring that scholarships are paid in a timely manner and that they represent a meaningful incentive for continuing education.

It is necessary, they state, to engage a greater number of mediators in order to solve the problem of dropping out of school or persistent absenteeism and to ensure a regular rhythm of learning and continuation of studies between the levels of primary, secondary and higher education.

"The Advisory Committee once again calls on the authorities to expand affirmative action regarding electoral thresholds for numerically smaller national minorities, primarily Roma, in order to ensure adherence to the principle of equal treatment," the report states.

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