The Mladiinfo Montenegro representative took part in the five-day school “Civil Society for Beginners” organized by the Center for Development of NGOs (CRNVO) in the period from March 27th to March 31st in Podgorica.
The school is part of the project funded by the Commission for Allocation of revenue from games of chance. The aim of the school was to contribute to the education of young people about ways in which they can contribute to their community, as well as how to be more actively involved in the procedures and processes of social change. Students of the school had the opportunity to learn about different theoretical approaches to the concept of civil society, its importance, but also the limitations, and the historical context of civil society in Montenegro.
Lecturers of “Civil Society for beginners” were prominent representatives of the Montenegrin civil society with many years of experience in the field of democracy, human rights, business, European integration, public policy and civic participation.
On the first day of school twenty young people had the opportunity to meet with Goran Djurovic, extensive NGO activist and Chairman of the Board of the largest coalition of non-governmental organizations in Montenegro, which includes more than 100 NGOs – Coalition of NGOs – Reaching the Goal Through Cooperation, who spoke about the role of NGOs in civil society.
During the second day of school lecturers were Stevo Muk, president of the Board of Directors of the Institute Alternative and Zlatko Vujovic, President of the Management Board of Center for Monitoring and Research – CeMI. They spoke of civil society and public policies, the relationship between civil society and the executive power, respect of political parties and civil society, mechanisms of cooperation and experience with the European Union.
The topic of the third day of school was civil activism, youth activism as well as practical experience with the participants divided the Executive Director of CRNVO Ana Novakovic.
Within the topic of civil society in the protection of human rights was organized a visit to Ombudsman, where the Deputy guardians Zdenka Perovic and Snezana Mijuskovic met with students of the school. They presented the mandate, mission, method and results of the work of Ombudsman. Through questions, answers and activities, participants learned about the Institute for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in Montenegro. Deputy Ombudsman talked about addressing procedures, ways of filing a complaint, its consideration and completion. He spoke about the the work of Protection of child rights, youth, social welfare, as well as the national mechanism for the prevention of torture and trial within a reasonable time.
At the very end of the school participants discussed the topic of the civil society in the process of European integration, guided by executive director Daliborka Uljarević. Participants had the honor to listen to guest speakers HE Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Montenegro and representatives of the Slovak Embassy in Podgorica who shared the experience of NGO work in their countries.
All participants will participate in writing the Proceedings – published works that relate to the topics of civil society, civic activism and development of democracy in Montenegro, the situation in the field of human rights, the process of European integration, and youth participation in the political life of Montenegro.