Fast forward human rights! - A brief overview of supported projects
Fast forward human rights! - A brief overview of supported projects

Contributor(s): Ana Vujošević (Editor)
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Centar za građansko obrazovanje (CGO)
Keywords: Montenegro; human rights; supported projects;
Summary/Abstract: Cases of discrimination, intolerance and violations of the rights of citizens are not rare in Montenegro, but are rarely adequately prosecuted, despite the existence of numerous institutions dealing with development of policies and legal framework for protection of human rights. Human rights are one of the programme pillars of the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and the Civic Initiatives (CI) from Belgrade, who have so far conducted numerous successful projects in the area of education for human rights, campaigns for raising public awareness, initiatives for amendment of legislation, etc. This was a basis of a joint project Fast Forward Human Rights! Through this project CCE and CI have continued qualitatively developing the existing programmes, with the financial support of the European Union and within the framework of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights 2013 (EIDHR), from November 2013 to January 2015, but have also introduced some new answers to the need of providing a more effective contribution to the development of the culture of human rights in Montenegro. The objective of the project was strengthening of the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reforms in Montenegro, and providing support to peaceful conciliation of group interests as well as consolidating political participation and representation of citizens. The specific objective of the project was improving monitoring and protection of human rights in Montenegro through increased and active participation of civil society organizations. Action formatted in such a way falls within the framework of Guidelines for EU support to civil society in enlargement countries 2014-2020 of the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission, which underlines that civil society organizations must strengthen “their effectiveness by increasing their capacity for analysis, monitoring and advocacy, as well as networking, partnership, coalition building, and active participation in politics and processes of adoption of the law”. And in order to tackle the changes, developed organizational capacities are necessary, as well as a clear strategic direction, and certainly, stable sources of funding. Therefore, these changes represent the greatest challenge for civil society organizations that have failed to reach the required level of building/strengthening of their capacities, creating/defining the strategic direction and ensuring financial stability of their programmes. Activities of relevant civil society organizations in the area of human rights are important, since reforms in democratization of Montenegro cannot and should not be conducted only by institutions, but require involvement of all social sectors. Hence, the project Fast Forward Human Rights! also aimed at providing direct support to civil society organizations of different development levels, by allocation of financial resources for implementation of projects in local communities, by strengthening their capacities for the purpose of successful implementation of projects in accordance with the European rules, and by providing continuous consultations during the project duration. In this manner, organizations which are not direct beneficiaries of EIDHR in Montenegro have acquired knowledge and skills about human rights and advocating for human rights, as well as about management of projects from EU funds, which represent the real sources of financing in the future and a possibility for ensuring financial sustainability of their programmes.

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