POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN
Although women gained political rights in 1946, their advancement in political spheres and participation in decision-making progressed slowly. UNDP worked with women political activists from all parliamentary political parties to ensure sustainable capacity development and long-term impact. The partnership and advocacy work of UNDP and women in politics resulted in the introduction of a 30% quota in the electoral law and its further amendment in 2014. This work and joint efforts led to the creation women’s party forums in all parliamentary political parties with mandatory financial resources amounting to 10% of party budgets ensured by provisions introduced in the law on political party financing in 2019.
Toxic narratives, sexism and misogyny are widely present in the public context. To combat hate speech, sexism and violence against women in politics, UNDP, in partnership with the Women’s Policy Network – the unique multi-stakeholder alliance serving as a platform for dialogue, was created with the support of UNDP – conducted a first study of this type. kind research on violence against women in politics and organized a regional event to present its findings and spark dialogue on this growing concern.
RESOLUTION 1325 – WOMEN, PEACE, SECURITY
UNDP contributed to the continued implementation of the Women, Peace and Security program in Montenegro. The examination of the capacities of the institutions (Parliamentary Defense Committee, Ministry of Defense, police, Ministry of the Interior) representing the main pillars of the implementation of the resolution, served as an entry point for UNDP to further support progress in this area – policy framework improvement, capacity building, enabling environment, awareness raising and inspiring dialogue between all key stakeholders.
UNDP helped the country assess progress in the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and supported the development of the new action plan 2021-2022 which was adopted by the government.
WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
One of the biggest barriers for women entrepreneurs is access to financing, as only a limited number of women in the country own assets. UNDP, in partnership with WPN and through sustained advocacy work at the local level, contributed to improving women’s access to economic and financial resources and ensured the allocation of non-repayable funds to women’s businesses in local budgets.
Additionally, UNDP continued to support women entrepreneurs, targeting women, and provided gender equality advocates and policymakers with evidence of the urgent need for stronger gender equality policies. In partnership with the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs, UNDP supported the development of the information data hub for women entrepreneurs which serves as a one-stop shop and knowledge sharing platform.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women – from increased incidence of gender-based violence, decreased access to reproductive and maternal health care to reduced economic opportunities – UNDP continued to monitor the impact of COVID19 on women’s use of the care economy.
Assessment results in 2020 Healthcare Utilization Report women’s work during Covid19 confirmed with estimates that women’s contributions to unpaid and domestic work are 92% higher than those of men.
Regional Initiative – Joint Action of UNDP and RCC on Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Western Balkans
In cooperation with the RCC, as part of the joint UNDP-RCC initiative “Women’s economic empowerment: areas for joint action in the Western Balkans » UNDP deepened the regional dialogue between 168 regional entrepreneurs on sustainable solutions that take into account gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. UNDP, in cooperation with the RCC, has laid the foundations for the creation of a regional hub for women entrepreneurs which will bring together women leaders and entrepreneurs to strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors, IFIs and academia; encourage innovation and creativity; work towards common goals and address challenges together; share challenges, experiences and good practices in the transition to a digital and green economy and keeping in mind the repercussions of the pandemic.
Regional Women in STEM Network was developed as part of a broader regional initiative on Women’s Economic Empowerment: Areas of Joint Action in the Western Balkans, jointly implemented by the RCC and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) . The network brought together eminent representatives of national networks of Women in STEM who discussed strategic priorities and identified among other issues: the promotion of role models that young women can relate to and relate to to encourage their increased participation in STEM fields, the creation of mentoring (and coaching) programs ) for STEM fields, the organization of regional consultative events to exchange ideas and experiences, including the extension of local STEM-related events to the regional level; Share good practices to motivate practitioners and introduce digital tools for regional cooperation and smooth coordination. The regional women in STEM network organized two regional meetings (in Montenegro and Durres) and worked on developing a strategic plan and regulatory framework for future work and activities.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
In Montenegro, a complex economic, social and political environment obscures and sidelines women’s issues. UNDP is an implementing partner of UN WOMEN for the Montenegrin component of the EU-funded regional program “Ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey: implementing standards, changing standards mentalities”. The program aims to reduce intersectional discrimination and violence against women and girls in six Western Balkan countries and Turkey, building on the normative frameworks of CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention, and in compliance with EU membership standards.
To help countries in the region identify different forms of feminicide, UN Women launched a regional initiative, with support from UNDP Montenegro, aimed at developing a unique methodology on feminicides as well as guidance on how to identify the “gender dimension” of female homicide which will be implemented for the first time in Montenegro in partnership with the partner NGO SOS Niksic and Ombudsman.
Additionally, UNDP supported CSOs to monitor and address challenges related to the implementation and monitoring of the existing legal and policy framework, victim-focused support, victims’ access to justice and lack of systemic support. With this support, CSOs have developed parallel reports against the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Istanbul Convention, which are essential to combat discrimination based on on gender and violence against women. Additionally, UNDP strengthened the capacity of women’s organizations to hold governments accountable, advocate for effective implementation; monitor the prevention and response to violence against women and contribute to the availability and access to comprehensive, multi-sectoral services for survivors of violence.
GENDER INTEGRATION IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
UNDP continuously promotes capacity development, to ensure that analytical capacities and skills in public administration institutions are deployed for the diagnosis of problems, the search for solutions and the evaluation of policies on equality of sexes.
Recognizing human resources as essential and establishing a system of gender mainstreaming at individual, organizational and systemic levels, UNDP has drawn attention to the importance of gender mainstreaming in public administration. UNDP organized an international conference. “Equality at the heart of public administration“. Additionally, UNDP has advocated for the mainstreaming of Gender Equality Label standards and the integration of gender equality concerns into strategic frameworks developed in the country.
Due to its mandate – recruitment of employees of public institutions and development of capacities to match the skills of public employees with those of the 21st century – the Human Resources Management Authority (HRMA) is the institution best placed to within public administration. pilot the Gender Seal in public institutions, with the support of the UNDP gender team in Montenegro. By adopting and fully implementing standards for gender mainstreaming in public administration work, HRMA has gone the extra mile to help build a society where no one is left behind. UNDP has already trained 168 civil servants in gender mainstreaming in public administration.
GENDER-SENSITIVE COMMUNICATION
Our commitment to gender-sensitive communication is reflected not only in gender equality, but also in other related areas of our work and in gender-integrated content on our website and social media.
UNDP has produced a number of gender-related knowledge products offering insights and lessons learned on gender. As gender-sensitive communication is an essential skill for all development practitioners, we work to raise staff awareness of how language can either reinforce or reverse gender inequalities through numerous internal training courses.
Aware that digitalized speech brings innovative new media forms that, in many cases, have greater reach and social influence, UNDP has developed specific project ideas aimed at raising public awareness of the importance of speech. gender equality. As part of our project “Communicating Gender Equality”, funded by the European Union, we have already developed an online course on gender equality, strengthened the capacities of the public administration and the public broadcaster RTCG.
Additionally, as part of this exploratory journey of influencing and interconnecting media, communications and culture to achieve gender equality, we have launched innovative campaigns including the G SPOT podcast and the creative of the monograph “Women of Montenegro”, celebrating the achievements of women throughout the history of Montenegro. different domains
Riding the wave of interconnection between digitalization and gender issues, we installed art sculptures in two locations of the capital of Montenegro, Podgoricaallowing citizens to learn about the exceptional women of Montenegrin history, whose emancipation efforts contributed not only to the social context in which they lived and created, but also shaped modern society.
