„Quality of all activities was excellent, we learned a lot through various stories and workshops led by our trainers, especially when it comes to Roma and Egyptian population and challenges they face“.
This way Jelena, a student of the Secondary Vocational and Higher Education School „Sergije Stanic“ from Podgorica, describes her impressions after attending a workshop on media literacy, PR techniques and production of campaigns. This activity was organised by the NGO Young Roma within the recently finalised "MNE Youth against hate speech" project. This was one of three projects funded in Montenegro. Project's objective was to improve level of knowledge and skills of young people about importance of human rights and anti-dicrimination policies, but also about dangers which come with hate speech. It was supported through the joint European Union/Council of Europe action "Promotion of diversity and equality in Montenegro".
Jelena is willing to share acquired information with other interested parties with whom she will be collaborating in her future work. She believes that more attention should be paid to this kind of projects, since they contribute to enhancing non-formal education.
Elmedina, a sixteen year old student of the Medical high school in Podgorica, feels empowered to share acquired knowledge, primarily to her family and friends. In her opinion, spreading knowledge on how to fight against discrimination and, more broadly, for human rights is a success. On the other hand, she thinks that the Council of Europe and the European Union should be working more on promoting positive examples from Roma community, but also on supporting Roma people who “would like to become something more in their life“.
Semir, an eighteen year old student of the High school of Economics „Mirko Vesovic“ from Podgorica, who attended a training on PR techniques in addition to the human rights and hate speech training, emphasised how delighted he was with the quality and level of informativeness of both trainings.
Sebastijan who intends to apply for the International relations course at the University of Montenegro shares a similar opinion about the trainings' quality and believes that employment and education are essential for better integration of Roma and Egyptians in the society. He participated in a REspect campaign which offered counter-narratives against hate speech together with Merlinda, a seventeen-year-old student of Madrasa „Mehmed Fatih“ from Podgorica. Merlinda also expects that the Council of Europe and the European Union will contribute to the improvement of level of education of Roma and Egyptians.
In the last European Commission 2020 report for Montenegro, Roma population was identified as one of the most vulnerable at the labour market. It was also emphasised that they continue to experience multiple types of discrimination in enforcing their rights in administrative and judicial proceedings.
