Montenegrin non-governmental organizations (NGOs) made a strong contribution to the recovery from the crisis caused by the coronavirus, especially in the part of educating the population, assessed the Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, Tamara Srzentić.
As announced by the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, Srzentić, at the regional online forum "Responsiveness and Adaptability of Civil Society Organizations", pointed out that the department is dedicated to creating better conditions for the work of NGOs.
She stated that the active and vocal role of the civil sector in Montenegro and their importance in the democratization of society are recognized in the Ministry, which, as she said, is extremely dedicated to the concept of participatory democracy and the development of civil society.
"My thinking is in the direction of how to overcome the built-up gap between governmental and non-governmental organizations and how to ensure that governmental institutions learn to use such an important and powerful resource as civil society organizations," said Srzentić.
She said that she cannot imagine any successfully planned public policy, nor the development of programs for the benefit of citizens, if during planning government organizations do not use specific data and knowledge available to NGOs.
"That's why we must continue to mutually encourage the collection of common data and their rapid exchange", stressed Minister Srzentić.
She stated that in Montenegrin society, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, existing social vulnerabilities have additionally increased, as well as that certain segments of society are exposed to new ones.
As she stated, the organizations of the United Nations and numerous governments around the world are paying tribute to the contribution that NGOs had during the epidemic.
"Montenegrin NGOs also deserve this recognition, even though you yourself faced the economic consequences caused by the crisis in your sector. You worked more and were exposed to unprotected work," said Srzentić.
She added that the redirection of global funds to finance the consequences of the coronavirus reduced reliable sources of income, so there was a decrease in the number of employees, while some NGOs stopped working during that period.
Srzentić said that the Ministry was actively working to create a more favorable environment for the activities of civil society, with special reference to the challenges that the pandemic caused.
As she said, in cooperation with partners from civil society, and with technical support financed by the European Commission, the draft strategy of cooperation between state administration bodies and non-governmental organizations 2022-2026 was prepared, which is under public debate.
"In the draft strategy, we mapped the challenges in the cooperation of the state and the non-governmental sector so far, among which the key weaknesses of the existing model of state financing, as well as the regionally unbalanced development of the non-governmental sector," said Srzentić.
She said that weak professionalization of the non-governmental sector and insufficient intra-sectoral connection and coordination of non-governmental organizations in the field of public advocacy, as well as an inadequate normative framework for volunteering and a lack of incentives for the development of volunteering, were recognized as weaknesses.
"One of the strategic goals relates precisely to the strengthening of the NGO sector as one of the partners of the state, in order to strengthen the civil sector in the field of service provision, reduce regional differences and encourage the networking of NGOs in certain areas," said Srzentić.
She stated that, in parallel with that process, the Ministry was working on identifying problems and finding possible solutions in the budgetary financing of NGOs.
"You are a smaller and more agile organization compared to government institutions, I wish you quick and effective application of the lessons learned from the covid crisis and successful adaptation to the challenges of digitization. You will always have a friend and partner in me", concluded Srzentić.
The regional online forum "Response and adaptability of civil society organizations" is part of the regional project "Encouraging regional cooperation and political responses in times of crisis".
This project, as announced by the Ministry, is implemented by the NGO Partners of Albania, the Centers of Civil Initiatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, the NGO Civic Initiatives from Serbia and the CRNVO from Montenegro.
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