Corporate Thematic AreasUNDP in MontenegroUN in Montenegro
NATIONAL POST-2015 - - -
ActualitiesSuccess on the ground, stories from the field UNDP Europe & CISSpecial Initiatives
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UNDP in MontenegroCetinje, 13 June 2013 Montenegro: New technology brings new solutions to old problems
Podgorica, 24 May 2013 Forests - Important for everyone!
Podgorica, 22 May 2013 Can a mobile app help you be a responsible citizen?
The app was developed by several teachers, current and former students of the University of Montenegro’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering who teamed up to take part in Open Ideas for Montenegro (in Montenegrin), a social innovation project designed out of sheer belief in the transformative power of technology. Read more on UNDP’s regional website for Europe and Central Asia
Podgorica, 8-12th May 2013 Official visit of Ms. Cihan Sultanoğlu, UN Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator of UNDP and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to Montenegro
The focus of Ms. Sultanoğlu’s discussions with the highest representatives of the Montenegrin Government was on current cooperation and future aspects of UNDP’s long-term strategic partnership with the Government of Montenegro in the country. She also discussed with the Government of Montenegro the future establishment of the Sustainable Development Centre. Ms. Sultanoğlu met with Mr. Milo Đukanović, Prime Minister of Montenegro; Mr. Igor Lukšić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration; and Mr. Branimir Gvozdenović, Minister of Sustainable development and tourism. She also met with the Heads of resident UN Agencies and representatives of the EU Delegation in Montenegro and other bilateral and multilateral partners. In addition, she visited the Municipalities of Mojkovac and Cetinje, as well as the UN Eco-building construction site in Podgorica. Interview with Ms. Cihan Sultanoğlu, UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the CIS
Share your ideas and join our social innovation camp for human rights
If your idea is selected, we’ll get you to Yerevan, Armenia, for HuriLab, our social innovation camp happening 28 to 30 June. Witness protection? Press freedoms? Rights of people with disabilities? Women, kids, minorities? Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, access to information? The topics that fall under human rights and justice are many - so tell us what you are most passionate about and how you want to make the world a better place. (See the ideas that have been submitted so far.) If your idea is chosen by our panel of judges, we’ll bring you to the event for free, where you’ll team up with programmers and techies to further develop your idea, design and prototype it. After 48 hours, the top three ideas will receive a grant from UNDP.
#ICT4Env – Conference „Utilization of New technologies for environmental monitoring”
The objective of the conference is to present the activities in this domain, to showcase good practices of EU institutions, as well as to open a dialog on new ideas and possibilites for using new technologies in the work of institutions in charge, especially in terms of environmental monitoring.
8 – 12 May 2013 UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the CIS Ms. Cihan Sultanoğlu to pay an official visit to Montenegro
Podgorica, 19 April 2013 Global 2013 Human Development Report – “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World” launched in Montenegro
According to the Report, Montenegro ranks 52nd out of 187 countries and territories and is placed in the “high human development” category. Montenegro ranks better than some Western Balkans countries from the “high human development” category, such as Serbia (64), The FYROM Macedonia (78) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (81). At the same time, it is behind most of European Union member states, including Slovenia (ranked at 21), the Czech Republic (28), Estonia (33), Slovakia (35), Hungary (37), Poland (39), Lithuania (41), Latvia (44) and Croatia (47).
Podgorica, 19 April 2013 All I want for Christmas (and forever) is no more waste: Report it & win awards!
8 April 2013 Pursuing the vox populi
And yet, it happened. A tiny Mediterranean county, home of 650.000 people, managed to mobilise more than 8.0001 of its people to actively participate in shaping the global future. Getting on board 1,3% of national population, obviously, made the process pretty much participatory, with an unprecedented nationwide outreach within the Post‐2015 globally. ...unless you know that all has been done in less than three months.
Podgorica, 4 April 2013 I did my first Ignite, and all you get is this Blog post by dr Milica Begovic Radojevic, @ElaMi5
I love to talk, and I don’t do it in 15 second snippets- it’s more of a steady torrent of words! So framing something I am very passionate and intrigued about (measuring poverty in real time using big data) in 20 slides-X-15 seconds was a bit terrifying. Fear mixed with the husband-challenge got me to sign up. It was a personal thing: prove to self that I can do it, and infect others with the idea of using big data for measuring poverty in real time.
Podgorica, 29 March 2013 Report waste, do your civic duty and win awards for the Earth Day
It’s been almost a year since this tweet was posted during a live twitter discussion from a high level preparation event on Montenegro’s participation at the Sustainable Development Conference in Rio. Maybe it took longer than it should have, but we (Aarhus Center Niksic, Agency for Environmental Protection, NGO Ozon and UNDP in Montenegro) heard Itana back then and followed through on her idea.
Podgorica, 29 March 2013 How green a country can be on the EU environmental map?
Podgorica 29 March 2013 The future we want, drop by drop
New York, 21 March 2013 Priorities for the global development agenda shaped by unprecedented public outreach effort
The snapshot report of initial findings entitled “The Global Conversation Begins” was delivered to more than 100 representatives of Member States who will negotiate the future development agenda that is likely to build on the MDGs and sustainable development agenda from Rio+20. “We are reinventing the way decisions will be made at the global level,” said Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of Bureau for Development Policy at UN Development Programme. “People want to have a say in determining what kind of world they are going to live in and we are providing that opportunity by using digital media as well as door-to-door interviewers.”
Mexico City, 14 March 2013 2013 Human Development Report: Montenegro ranks 52nd among 187 countries in “human development” According to the 2013 Human Development Report – “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World” - that was launched globally today by UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, Montenegro ranks 52nd out of 187 countries and territories and is placed in the “high human development” category. Montenegro ranks better than some Western Balkans countries from the “high human development” category, such as Serbia (64), The FYROM Macedonia (78) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (81). At the same time, it is behind most of European Union member states, including Slovenia (ranked at 21), the Czech Republic (28), Estonia (33), Slovakia (35), Hungary (37), Poland (39), Lithuania (41), Latvia (44) and Croatia (47). Norway is a country with the highest human development, followed by Australia and the USA, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger occupy the bottom positions. The UNDP ranking indicates that well-being depends on more than money, so it measures health and education alongside income. The aim of development is not economic growth for its own sake but rather creating an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives. Explanatory note on 2013 HDR composite indices – Montenegro
New York, 12 March 2013 The UN engages citizens around the world to take part in shaping the future global development agenda
Presented by the UN and partners this week, MY World provides an extraordinary pathway for citizens to have a say in what development priorities world leaders should include in the next development framework. In a special video message today for the MY World survey, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged the public: “Vote and tell us what issues matter most to you and your family. Make a difference. Mark a difference!”
Bratislava, 11 March 2013 Join us LIVE 15 March to talk about Roma inclusion and evidence based lessons *This post was originally published on the UNDP’s regional blog Voices from Eurasia The conference will take place simultaneously in Moldava nad Bodvou, (Slovakia) and Brussels, (Belgium) – and will be livestreamed. We’ll also be tweeting live from the event, so join the discussion by following @UNDP_Europe_CIS and use #RomaAction in your tweets. Feel free to send in your questions too. We decided to hold one of the sessions in Moldava nad Bodvou, since it has a large Roma community, home to many social inclusion related activities. The conference will present the results of a three-year pilot project started by the European Parliament and the and Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy to promote Roma socio-economic inclusion in five European Union Member States and fYR Macedonia. (See the EC project page)
08 March 2013 New cross border cooperation between Montenegro & Croatia: This text was originally published on the UNDP Representation Office in Brussels website
Due to unfavorable economic conditions in the border region of Croatia and Montenegro, there has been limited investment in the past to promote the exceptional natural and cultural values of this area. On both sides of the border, there is a need to develop human resources and provide locally based trainings in the provision of tourism related services. The region also lacks a consistent marketing approach and brand identity, and has underdeveloped distribution and communication channels that could be strengthened by improving usage of new information and communication technologies. In response to this situation, the project will improve technical capacities for the development of outdoor tourism and promote cross border actions that will further create an enabling environment for the design of joint products in the area, improving at the same time safety standards for outdoor tourism. The project will be implemented in the Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Ulcinj municipalities of Montenegro and in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county of Croatia.
6 March 2013, Podgorica Better future for inter-municipal cooperation in Montenegro?
UNDP Montenegro has been supporting country’s inter-municipal cooperation since 2010. The same kind of support has been taking place in the region even longer, since 2007, particularly in The FYROM Macedonia. UNDP’s motivation to continue to engage in this area comes out from the following:
Podgorica, 27 February 2013 Innovation means never looking to your own field for new ideas Blog post by dr Milica Begovic Radojevic, @ElaMi5
Several months ago a colleague of mine wrote about our idea to legalize thousands of informal homes in Montenegro using energy efficiency measures (or see the infographic for a visual show off the idea). We have been working on urban planning issues in Montenegro for almost a decade, but it was only when we had colleagues of different background looking at the problem- energy, economy, urban planning, communication, community engagement- that the solution came out. In short:
Podgorica, 25 February 2013 Enjoy complexity?
The speed with which change happens in our society today is astounding. Whether you are a policy maker, entrepreneur, or a grass roots activist, irrespective of a sector you work in, coming to terms with that change is what will either make you relevant and competitive or redundant. ‘Real-time’ is increasingly becoming a standard catch phrase in our vocabulary. When we say ‘coming to terms’ with the change we mean being able to detect early warning signs of an upcoming shift in behaviors attitudes, identify trends and patterns in attitudes, and quickly evaluate whether your response is appropriate and relevant to those changes. One way that we at UNDP are experimenting with in order to come to terms with fast pace changes in development is by using micro narratives. For us, people, it has always been about storytelling. We are most honest when we tell stories to our friends over coffee, during family meals, or by water-coolers.
Podgorica, 20 February 2013 Challenges in the implementation of the Law on financing of political parties in Montenegro
Just like the vast majority of what makes our life the way it is, financial resources are required for the functioning of political associations and elections, too. In addition to the resources acquired from private sources such as membership fees, donations, etc., political parties are subsidized by national budgets.
Podgorica, 14 February 2013 Stop the Violence Against Women & Children! Globally, up to 60% of women experience some form of physical or sexual abuse during their life. 2 million women and girls are trafficked each year into prostitution, forced labour, slavery, or servitude. Join UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and support One Billion Rising on Vday (February 14) - a promise that we will rise up with women and men worldwide to say, "Enough! The violence ends now." Podgorica will be connected in the same rhythm („Break the chain“) and with the same message with thousands of dancing activists across the globe, organized by the Women's Safe House, with support from the EU Delegation to Montenegro, the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and the UNDP Gender Programme. Today at 2pm hundreds of citizens will be dancing on the main square in Podgorica in protest against family violence. In this way the capital of Montenegro will join the international campaign „One billion rising“ which will - on the same day and at the same time - connect Podgorica, Brussels, Rome, Sarajevo, Berlin, Belgrade, Zagreb and another 200 cities in the world. Women's Section of the Education Union of Montenegro will participate in the event, as well as well-known representatives of the public and political life in the country. On February 13th Montenegrin MPs danced in the Parliament and will come today to support the campaign at the main event.
Podgorica, 13 February 2013 UNDP in Montenegro has an innovative approach to the legalization of informal settlements
The World Bank’s Doing Business Report for 2013 ranked Montenegro 176th among 185 countries of the world when it comes to dealing with construction permits. The unofficial country data indicate that there are some 100.000 illegally constructed buildings in Montenegro. Rapid urbanization during the past decade, mainly fuelled by foreign direct investments boom, has indeed significantly increased Montenegro’s GDP. However, one of the consequences was increased number of informally built constructions. The costs of living in Montenegro are significantly above the disposable budget of many households, while high electricity price pose additional burden on average citizens. Moreover, most of the illegal objects have very low energy efficiency characteristics, resulting in an overall increase in CO2 emissions and increased electricity consumption. It doesn’t take a scientist to conclude that both the country and its most vulnerable citizens suffer the most. For nearly a decade now, UNDP has been making efforts to help the country advance its spatial planning. Now, we have some new, innovative proposals to tackle this challenge. The results of our innovative method showed that 63% savings in energy consumption is possible; an amount that can later be used to finance the costs of legalization, with 6-7 years long period for the return of the investment.
Podgorica, 28 January 2013 National Human Development Report 2013: ‘People are the real wealth of the country.’ How rich is Montenegro?
31 December 2012 Flood affected communities taking more active role in emergency situations Written by Jovana Jovović, United Nations Volunteer, Disaster Risk Reduction and
Harsh winters are common in the north of the country. However, over the past couple of years weather conditions seem to have taken extreme shape. “We had no idea how big the flood attack was going to be. Before the water rushed into the house we just had enough time to grab personal documents, some medicines and a few things for my little niece and nephew. We then stood in the water up to our knees not knowing where to go. We just waited until people from the Protection and Rescue Services, Red Cross and UNHCR came,” Seribona recalls.
UNDP/GFATM Programmes in Montenegro have issued the 2012 end-of-year newsletter
UNDP is the Principal Recipient (PR) of HIV and TB grants in Montenegro from 2006. The PR has worked actively to establish strong relations with relevant national stakeholders which is the key for the successful implementation of the National HIV Programmes. The PR has also developed relations with number of NGOs to facilitate outreach to and screening of vulnerable groups difficult to reach through the national health care system. The newsletter aims to help readers and their friends/families to gain the necessary knowledge in response to HIV/AIDS in Montenegro.
Podgorica, 21 December 2012 Green star award goes to UNDP in Montenegro
Budva and Podgorica, 15-16 and 19 December Where do Montenegrin women stand in politics and entrepreneurship?
Blog: Air quality egg 2 We’d like to give a special shout out to the air quality community from Bristol, UK that will be joining us and sharing their experiences.
Sarajevo, 6 December 2012 The UNDP Renewable Energy Challenge: Can you make a difference in the lives of people affected by war?
Challenge description Since the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, more than one million out of 2.2 million persons displaced during the war have returned to reclaim their lives. For most of them, houses have been reconstructed and normal living conditions restored, but still more than 3,000 families in the most remote rural areas lack access to power. With the fast-declining funding for returnees, there is little hope that the grid will be extended to their villages; in most cases such an investment is not even economically justified. For earlier events please visit our Archive |
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The discussion on the 
May 22 was the International day for Biological diversity, a special day for biologists and all of us who understand and appreciate the wealth and beauty of biological diversity of our country. 
Citizens in Montenegro are now equipped with a new mobile app “
The first official visit of Ms. Cihan Sultanoğlu, UN Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator of UNDP and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), to Montenegro reconfirmed the excellent partnership the UN and more specifically UNDP enjoys with the Government of Montenegro.
Do you want to change the world? If you are from Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine, and have an idea for promoting human rights and justice, share it by 20 May. 
On Wednesday, 15th May 2013, the 
UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the CIS Ms. Cihan Sultanoğlu will pay an official visit to Montenegro from May 8th to 12th. The UNDP official’s talks with the highest representatives of the Montenegrin Government will focus on: current cooperation and future aspects of UNDP’s long-term presence in the country; UN and UNDP’s role in Middle / Upper middle income countries like Montenegro and in EU accession context within the framework of UN Delivering as One; and exploring new initiatives for future strategic partnership, including the establishment of a Sustainable Development Centre in Montenegro. Cihan Sultanoğlu will convey a message that the UN Country Team in Montenegro remains at the disposal of the Government of Montenegro to support major developmental priorities of the country and its aspiration towards EU accession for the benefit of citizens.
"Economic growth alone does not automatically reflect on progress when it comes to human development, says 
It’s been some two weeks since we launched a beta version of a crowdsourcing platform and mobile applications for reporting waste in Montenegro. We received a staggering 55 comments via application and over 100 different citizen ideas through Twitter and Facebook suggesting ways to improve it and make it more user friendly. 
When I first heard about the global Post‐2015 campaign, I could hardly assume that people of Montenegro would make 2% of all the people around the globe who took part in designing future development agenda.
My husband challenged me (literally- he knows me well!) to submit an idea for 
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English translation of the tweet: #RioMe design a system for crowdsourcing sites of illegal waste dumps, you only need a web master]
I am not really a sports enthusiast but I often walk to work, and I like long walks during weekends. On my walking tours I notice enthusiasts who enjoy the countryside saying how beautiful and ‘untouched’ the environment is. But, how ‘healthy’ is our environment indeed? Do we breathe cleaner air, drink better water or eat healthier food less treated with pesticides or other additives? Is Montenegro better off comparing to other EU countries?
It is no news if we tell you that humans need water for survival or that we are advised to drink in average 2 liters of water per day. Well, a good advice, but difficult to follow since we just went through a week of no safe drinking water in Podgorica. Tedious rain caused not only wet streets but uncovered old problems with the water supply system and with provision of safe water to citizens. It was only a temporary nuisance but what would happen if there would be no water running from the tap? What would happen if major fresh water reservoirs were polluted, and there were only scarce quantities of fresh water available? 
The United Nations presented today the first findings from an unprecedented global conversation through which people from all over the world have been invited to help Member States shape the future development agenda that will build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after their target date at the end of 2015. 
You’re invited! We’re having a conference on 15 March: “From pilots to outcomes,” which will focus on evidence-based lessons on the socio-economic inclusion of Roma communities.
The European Union has awarded UNDP in February 2013 a new grant of over EUR 276,000 for strengthening cross-border tourism cooperation between Montenegro and Croatia. The project will stimulate local economy in the cross-border area through bringing together private and public sector in the field of tourism and leveraging new technologies to design user-centric tourism services.
In a tiny country of 620.000 population, two small picturesque mountaineous municipalities of a few thousand inhabitants could save €35-40.000 per year by joining forces, while the second largest municipality Nikšić alone could earn around €40.000 in that way. How come that those municipalities haven’t established the inter-municipal cooperation yet? The most obvious cause and the biggest obstacle is in fact the lack of initial funding.
According to the NGO Centar za monitoring (CEMI), the political life in Montenegro in the current three years will cost €17.5 million of citizens’ money. That is the amount provided from the budget for the elections and parliamentary parties. According to the representatives of the NGO sector the way political parties are being financed is not controlled sufficiently. Also, jurisdictions of institutions often overlap in this regard. Therefore, the Law on financing of political parties that has been enforced only a year ago may soon face amendments.
Can we help citizens get an ownership title to their house, save money on energy bills and at the same time generate income for local administrations through real estate taxes? UNDP and Government of Montenegro think so.
Almost half of the Montenegrin population (42%), especially older generations, continue to believe that the state, i.e. the Government is responsible to provide for them. Even nine out of ten citizens believe that for making progress in life it is important to be well connected with people in high positions and with political powers. Majority (64%) would rather work in public sector with much lower salaries (€450), than in private sector with higher salaries (€750). Only half of the employed do the job they are educated for, but less than 5% believe they need training to be able to cope with their job duties. These are some findings of the National Human Development Report 2013: ‘People are the real wealth of the country. How rich is Montenegro?, dedicated to the topic of human capital of Montenegro. The Report was developed with financial and advisory support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade. 
Seribona Berishaj is a refugee from Kosovo. She lives on the bank of the river Lim, in the settlement Riversajd which is a part of the northern municipality of Berane. The whole settlement, as well as Talum on the other side of the river was most affected during severe floods that struck Montenegro late in 2010.
Welcome to the UNDP / GFATM Programs in Montenegro’s second newsletter! It contains articles, news and snippets of information about the implementation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) grants in this country. The activities and topics presented here concern people with specific needs and their life stories. At the same time, familiarization with these topics will contribute to better understanding of the global situation related to HIV and TB policies, epidemiological trends, innovative approaches in working with the most-at-risk populations and will hopefully help in accepting cultural, sexual and gender differences. 
UNDP in Montenegro received the annual Green Star award in the category of environmental support to national institutions and civil society. The prize is awarded for outstanding achievements in eight environmental protection categories, by the Aarhus Centre of Podgorica and Nikšić, the Agency for Environmental Protection and the NGO ‘Ozone’, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the EnvSec Programme. The other winners are the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro for the best environmental campaign; the Foundation “Our Podgorica” for public engagement and environmental projects; the Regional centre for underwater demining and diving training of Bijela for the best environmental action; the Electric Power Company of Montenegro for corporate social responsibility; the Dan daily for the environmental media coverage; Ms. Milica Novaković, journalist of the Vijesti daily for an individual contribution to the environmental media coverage; and the citizens of Ivana Milutinovića St. in Nikšić for their civic initiative in the field of environment.
Women in Montenegro face increased threat due to domestic violence. They are also politically marginalized and economically disadvantaged. With only 13.6% of women parliamentarians, Montenegro takes 99th place among countries of the world, where the average representation is 19.6%. Montenegro holds the last place among countries of former Yugoslavia - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia, where the less represented sex takes between 21 and 32% of MP seats. In the entrepreneurship sector, women are even more underprivileged. Compared to 21% of male population, only 9% of Montenegrin women possess their own business, despite the fact that they are more educated than men.
To all environmental monitoring geeks, as we 
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina is now issuing a challenge to find a renewable energy solution capable of providing off-grid power to cover the needs of an average war-returnee family in rural Bosnia and Herzegovina.