Montenegro

Progress on MDGs in Montenegro

A mid-term report on achieving the Millennium Development Goals shows that Montenegro will manage to achieve by 2015 almost all nationalized tasks set in line with the Millennium Development Goals.

Although significant progress has been made compared to the situation in the past decade, particularly in the area of economic growth and stability, development of strategic/planning documents, legal framework reform, social reform, some tasks and challenges in the areas of social exclusion, the rule of law and democratization, regional development disparities and revitalizing the economy in light of the global economic crisis require further efforts in order to be fulfilled.
Progress in development will greatly depend on adequate application of initiated and planned policies and application of adopted policies and the legislative framework.
 Eradicate Relative Poverty and Other Dimensions of Poverty Although the consequences of the global economic crisis are reflected through the increase of the poverty rate in Montenegro, based on the presented indicators it is realistic to expect that Montenegro will fulfil its goal in the prescribed period and halve the poverty rate compared to the initial year. This will be contributed to by the activities of the Government aimed at improving the position of vulnerable categories of the population through the improvement of the system of social welfare and active employment. By working on further promoting the development of entrepreneurship especially in the northern region, as well as the adoption of the Strategy of the Regional Development of the North, in the following period a reduction in development disparities in the North and the South will be worked on.

 

1. Eradicate Relative Poverty and Other Dimensions of Poverty

Although the consequences of the global economic crisis are reflected through the increase of the poverty rate in Montenegro, based on the presented indicators it is realistic to expect that Montenegro will fulfil its goal in the prescribed period and halve the poverty rate compared to the initial year. This will be contributed to by the activities of the Government aimed at improving the position of vulnerable categories of the population through the improvement of the system of social welfare and active employment. By working on further promoting the development of entrepreneurship especially in the northern region, as well as the adoption of the Strategy of the Regional Development of the North, in the following period a reduction in development disparities in the North and the South will be worked on.

 

2. Achieve universal primary education

Based on the collected data and previous actions taken by the Government, it is obvious that by 2015 Montenegro will have 100% coverage of children enrolled in elementary school, while the increase in the quality of education and measures in relation to vulnerable categories will contribute to the reduction of early school drop-out among certain categories. A harmonized pre-school registration process will allow monitoring and improvement of educational activities in all institutions of this kind. Through a series of programmes and strategic documents, the Government will pay special attention to the improvement of the position of children who are in a disadvantaged situation as regards education (children with disabilities, children in the state of social need, children from rural areas, RAE children) and contribute through programmes of affirmative action to their social inclusion. These activities, along with a series of others, will result in the reduction of already relatively low rates of illiteracy in Montenegro.

 

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

Even though an institutional and legal basis for the improvement of gender equality has already been established in Montenegro, unequal representation of men and women in some professions is still present, especially when it comes to managerial positions. In order to enhance gender equality and to improve the position of women, the Government of Montenegro will improve the legislative framework and its consistent application in the upcoming period, and introduce gender equality in all policies and programmes at both national and local levels. However, it should be expected that the gradual changing of attitudes and social norms may take a significant amount of time. Certainly the achievement of this goal will be aided by the adoption of legislation that should regulate the increasing participation of women in positions of decision making. Achieving this goal will also aided by more effective implementation of existing legislation, as well as the adoption and effective implementation of all programmes and policies adopted by the Government of Montenegro.

4. Reduce child mortality

One of the key goals of the development of any country is to reduce mortality rates. On the basis of trends in the value of indicators which monitor the realization of this goal, it can be realistically expected for this objective to be met by 2015. Through the adoption of strategic documents, reform of the health system, as well as a range of activities that the Government is implementing in cooperation with the NGO sector in order to improve the health of children and their position in the family and society, in the following period an increased rate of regularly vaccinated children, as well as the rate of breastfeeding, and a reduction in the number of children with lower physical mass at birth are expected.

 

5. Improve maternal health

Although the maternal mortality rate in Montenegro is very low (only one case in the past few years), the Montenegrin Government conducted a series of programmes and projects aimed at improving maternal health. Particular progress in this field has been made by reforming the health system, the presence of a specialist at all deliveries, the use of Counselling for reproductive health within the Centres for Prevention in health centres. To this end one of the challenges is the tracking and prevention of abortions, which have a very harmful influence on the reproductive health of women. We should bear in mind the fact that it has been possible so far to compile statistics on this issue only in public institutions, and if private healthcare facilities had been included in the research it is estimated that this number would be much bigger.

 

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases

Montenegro has made significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases. The health system in Montenegro provides all persons with HIV/AIDS in need of anti-retroviral therapy, with free access. By adopting appropriate strategic documents, free access to counselling for prevention will be allowed in primary healthcare where special attention will be paid to children and youth and the treatment of people with HIV/AIDS. A challenge in achieving this goal is the death rate from cardiovascular and malignant diseases, which are the leading causes of death and disease among the population of Montenegro, and show a growing trend. In this regard, the Government has planned a series of implementation measures for prevention, early diagnosis and treatment.

 

 

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

In order to ensure sustainability of the environment in Montenegro, special attention is being paid to the protection of land, and especially mountain, ecosystems. Based on analyses conducted, it can be said that the air quality in Montenegro was rated in terms of global indicators as satisfactory, which is also expected in the future. The Government will make further efforts to provide appropriate coastal protection, including marine ecosystems, and improve monitoring of aquatic ecosystems, through upgrading the legislative framework, the adoption of strategic documents and their proper implementation. Therefore, within the prescribed period until 2015 the Government will work on the harmonization of legislation in Montenegro with the EU legislation and its adequate implementation.

 

8. Develop a global partnership for development

On its way towards acquiring full membership in the European Union, Montenegro is trying to channel and systematically track donor assistance through the activities aimed at establishing an overall system of coordination of donor support that will allow easier monitoring and planning of programmes and projects in areas of priority for further economic and social development of Montenegro.

 

Note: The photos illustrating this page show the art works that were created during a 10 days Art Colony that took place in July 2010 in Bijelo Polje, Montenegro, where around 40 artists from Germany, England, France, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia and Western Balkans used creative inspiration to try and depict or sculpt the pain of poverty. The Art Colony was organized by the UN System in Montenegro, within Delivering as One initiative through its Social Inclusion Pillar Working Group and in cooperation with NGO Stari Most from Bijelo Polje.