Montenegro

UNDP in Montenegro

Podgorica, 17 October 2005

In the occasion of the International day for the eradication of poverty,
Montenegro presented the first Report on human development:
“Diversities – potential for development”

“The protection and strengthening of the existing nature of the Montenegrin society, based on diversity, is a necessary precondition for the sustainable human development. Future coherent Montenegrin identity is feasible, not to the account of, but due to the existing diversity“ said Filip Vujanovic, President of the Republic of Montenegro at the occasion of the official public presentation of the first Report on Human Development in Montenegro on the topic: “Diversities – potential for development“.

 

For more than a decade UNDP has been publishing the Global Annual Report on Human Development. With its report, in 2005, Montenegro also joins the group of approximately 135 countries of the world that by publishing these documents support the identification and recording of the most significant changes and challenges in the field of human development in certain parts of the world. These reports are based on the thorough, analytical research and have become a dynamic lobbying tool. 

The Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses (ISSP) is a partner of the United Nations Development Program that has worked on the preparation of the Montenegro Report for 2005.    

Moises Venancio, Senior Program Manager and Team Leader UNDP Western Balkans, Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (RBEC), from New York, expressed his pleasure with the symbolism of the promotion of the Report on Human Development in Montenegro on the International day of fight for poverty eradication, because “ … Poverty continues to be a major challenge in the world today. One fifth of the world’s population spends 2 USD a day on a cappuccino while one fifth survives on that per day. At the same time, 40% of the world’s population lives on USD 2 dollar a day…”

“Montenegrin Report highlights three major issues - inequality, gender and poverty.” 

“Inequality proves to be concerning global issue. Ten percent of world’s richest account for 54% of global income. The Report for Montenegro points out huge inequality between 10% of the richest and 10% of the poorest, as the highest in the region. Also, 40-50,000 IDPs/refuges in Montenegro that are about 7% of the MN population are amongst the poorest - and their poverty rate is 5-6 times higher than national poverty rate.”

“Gender concern: Although the number of high-educated man and women is in balance in Montenegro, number of women in the politics, decision making positions and public life is very low, even when compared with the region. While in Montenegrin Parliament only 10,67% MPs are women, Bosnia and Croatia have more than double the amount of women in public service.”

“Poverty: Ultimately, and in similar vein to other countries in the region, the report underlines that poverty remains an issue. Some 12/13 percent are poor - which is reasonably good in terms of the region - and around 33 percent are economically vulnerable.”

“Given all this, no matter what political solution for Montenegro is going to be, Montenegro as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country has to be strong enough not to allow inequalities and deepening the gaps between different groups in the society, but has to provide equal access to services and benefits of the economic growth to all. Poverty needs careful targeting.“ 

Presenting the Report on behalf of the expert team that worked on the document, and giving his views about the Report, Professor Veselin Vukotic, President of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses said about the differences as a potential in Montenegro as follows... "The concept of Montenegro as an independent micro state is, in the long run, the only sustainable one in the universe of Montenegrin diversity!  Freedom, the holiest of all the Montenegrin values from the past, should be the fundament in preserving those differences in a social tissue. Return to freedom and to the individual – is the key message of this study, as far as I understood it."