About 60 percent of Montenegrin citizens support the idea of settling disputes out of court, but the number of those who heard about mediation is at the same level as six years ago, which is why information and education are crucial when it comes to mediation.
This was announced at a press conference of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), on the occasion of the presentation of the results of the research: "Citizens' Attitudes on Mediation", which was carried out within the project: "Support to Improving the Efficiency and Transparency of Montenegrin Judiciary", implemented by CEDEM with the support of the Ministry of Justice.

CEDEM Program Manager, Ognjen Marković, said the survey was conducted from July 5 to July 17, with 1,002 respondents participating, and that in 2013 CEDEM conducted a mediation survey in cooperation with the OSCE. "When asked if you or someone close to you has had experience with a court in the last three years, in October 2013, 68.3 percent of citizens said they had no experience with the court, and in July this year, 72 percent said citizens. The number of those who had experience with the court was reduced from 31.7 to 28 percent, "Marković told the PR Center.

"The key problem regarding mediation is the lack of information among citizens, who in this respect need elementary education," Marković said.Experts rated the expertise, professionalism and personal qualities of the mediators as very important.

According to him, the idea of solving problems outside the court in 2013 was supported by less than a quarter of citizens, while today more than 60 percent of citizens support this idea."On the other hand, six years ago, almost 65 percent of citizens did not have an opinion on this issue, and today only every tenth citizen falls into this category," Markovic said.

An educational workshop for the members of the RE population on the rights, causes, consequences, and ways of combating the occurrence of domestic violence, child begging and forced marriages was successfully completed, held in Podgorica, in the elementary school "Božidar Vuković Podgoričanin", on 08. August 2019.

An educational workshop for members of the RE population in Podgorica is being held under the project: "Together for Sustainable Results in Combating Domestic Violence, Child Begging and Forced Marriages", financially supported by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of Montenegro. In addition to Podgorica, a workshop was held in Tivat, and in the coming period, it will be held in Berane.

The lecturer at the workshop was Mr. Elvis Beriša, Executive Director of Roma Organization: "Walk with Us - Phiren amenca".

The aim of the project is to contribute to the prevention and suppression of domestic violence, child begging and forced marriages among the RE population, by strengthening multisectoral, coordinated cooperation of all relevant institutions, organizations and institutions at the local level, as well as raising awareness among the lay and professional public about the importance of preventing discrimination to the RE population and the need to increase sensitivity, as one of the prerequisites to counteract these problems.

The third, as well as the last educational workshop for members of the RE population on the rights, causes, consequences, and ways of combating the occurrence of domestic violence, child begging and forced marriages was successfully completed in Berane on 15th of August 2019. An educational workshop for members of the RE population in Berane is being held under the project "Together for Sustainable Results in Combating Domestic Violence, Child Begging and Forced Marriages", financially supported by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of Montenegro. In addition to Berane, workshops were held in Tivat and Podgorica.

The lecturer at the workshop was Ms. Jasmina Kočan.

The aim of the project is to contribute to the prevention and suppression of domestic violence, child begging and forced marriages among the RE population, by strengthening multisectoral, coordinated cooperation of all relevant institutions, organizations and institutions at the local level, as well as raising awareness among the lay and professional public about the importance of preventing discrimination to the RE population and the need to increase sensitivity, as one of the prerequisites to counteract these problems.

In Tivat, Hotel Splendido, on July 26, 2019, an educational workshop for the members of the RE population on the rights, doses, consequences, and opportunities that could allow the occurrence of domestic violence, child beggars and prison marriages was successfully completed.

The aim of the project is to contribute to the prevention and suppression of domestic violence, child begging and forced marriages among the RE population, by strengthening multisectoral, coordinated cooperation of all relevant institutions, organizations and institutions at the local level, as well as raising awareness among the lay and professional public about the importance of preventing discrimination to the RE population and the need to increase sensitivity, as one of the prerequisites to counteract these problems.

Center for Democracy and Human Rights is launching a competition for participants of the "Gender and Security" School.

The school is being implemented within the framework of the project "Women's Empowerment Initiative: Education for Gender Equality", implemented by CEDEM in partnership with the Montenegrin Women's Lobby (CŽL), with the support of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.

The aim of the School is to contribute to greater respect for women's rights and to raise awareness of the importance of gender equality, by informing participants about gender equality policies and the importance of women's representation in senior and managerial positions. The School also aims to strengthen the professional capacity to take specific measures to achieve gender equality, given that it is aimed at young professionals in various fields.

The School is especially focused on:

1. students of law, political science and journalism;
2. young employees employed by government institutions;
3. young leaders of political parties in Montenegro and
4. young civil society actors.

In addition, we encourage young people from the natural sciences to apply for participation in the School!

The lecturers are national and regional experts, as well as representatives of the Montenegrin security sector.

The School will be held from 16 September to 16 October 2019 in Podgorica, in the afternoon. The number of students is limited to 20. All students after graduation receive a certificate and the right to participate in other project activities.

If you want to attend the School, interested applicants may send a CV and a short motivation letter (no more than 200 words) to the e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than September 2, 2019, indicating "Application to attend the Gender and Security School.

For any additional questions regarding the School, project or program activity, please do not hesitate to contact us via the e-mail address or telephone 020 234 114.

Center for Monitoring and Research (CEMI) in partnership with the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) and the Network for the Affirmation of European Integration Processes (MAEIP)within the framework of the project "Judicial Reform: Improving the capacity of civil society organizations in contributing to the preservation of the integrity of the judiciary", funded by the European Union, through the Pre-Accession Assistance Program (IPA) and the Ministry of Public Administration announces
                                                                                                          

   CALL
for granting small grants to non-governmental organizations with the aim of supporting the achievement of a higher level of democracy and the rule of law in Montenegro

proposals for projects ranging from EUR 5,000.00 to EUR 8,000.00 can be submitted no later than September 4, 2019. The total budget for the allocation of funds is EUR 48,000.00. So far, the grant has been given to five civil society organizations and there has been one more grant to be awarded under this project. The projects will be implemented in order to support the ongoing reform of the judiciary in Montenegro through increasing the involvement of the civil sector in the monitoring of the trial and/or the process of policymaking, which will improve the level of professionalism and integrity in the judiciary.

NGOs registered in accordance with the Law on Non-Governmental Organizations that meet the following criteria have the right to participate in this competition:
- that they are registered as citizens' associations at least one year before the deadline for submission of project proposals in this competition;
-to have a headquarters in Montenegro;
-they are directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project, with partners (if they are projected), and not acting as intermediaries;
-that in the previous year they have an annual turnover of more than EUR 10,000 (in case of part of the capacity building program). If there is a partner on the project, the annual turnover of all organizations participating in the project must be cumulatively greater than EUR 10,000.

Individuals, political parties, international and foreign organizations, government institutions, religious communities do not have the right to participate in this competition. Also, users who have signed contracts under the IPA CSF Project Proposal Submission (EuropeAid / 135998 / DD / ACT / ME) are not eligible applicants for this competition.

Applicants are requested to submit a completed application package, consisting of Application Form, Budget Proposal and Logical Framework Matrix. Before completing these forms, read the Guide to find information about the conditions for applying and a detailed description of the activities that will be supported by this contest. All information and application forms are located on NGO CeMI websites and NGO CEDEM partners: www.cemi.org.me; https://www.cedem.me/.

Project - Judicial Reform: Improving the capacity of civil society organizations to contribute to preserving the integrity of the judiciary Contract number 2017 / 388-367