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Community Action Groups and Institutional Working Groups established in Montenegro

In the previous period, the ROMACTED team in Montenegro established Community Action Groups (CAGs) and Institutional Working Groups (IWGs) in all partner municipalities in Montenegro: Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Herceg Novi, Nikšić, Tivat, and Ulcinj. Significant support for the implementation of activities was provided to the facilitators and the overall process by the support organisation NGO "Young Roma".

During the meetings of the Community Action Groups, which are comprised of representatives of the Roma and Egyptian communities, the facilitators discussed the problems and challenges they face and ways to solve them. The meetings of Institutional Working Groups, consisting of representatives of relevant local institutions, followed the establishment of CAGs. The municipal contact points and facilitators presented the problems identified by the communities and discussed the potential solutions. The results of these meetings were the initiatives for implementing specific activities that would respond to the most urgent challenges or can be solved at the earliest in different essential areas. Some of the initiatives were: providing transportation for pupils to school, solving the issue of housing in unconditional settlements, setting up information boards in communities, organising info sessions on employment opportunities, providing space for gathering and holding activities, and many others.

Meetings with the communities and institutions will be held regularly during the programme's implementation. The CAG and IWG are good platforms for continuing that cooperation. In the coming period, training of members of these groups is planned to strengthen their capacities for participatory decision-making and implementation of the overall process of social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in the partner municipalities.

In two municipalities, Bijelo Polje and Berane, Municipal Taskforce Groups (MTG) were also formed, bringing together community representatives and institutions to openly discuss the identified problems and agree on solutions.

In addition to the abovementioned activities, the facilitators conducted a baseline study in the previous quarter and collected relevant data on the most important areas of the life of Roma communities, as well as mapped local stakeholders with whom they will cooperate in the coming period.

Podgorica, Montenegro 23 December 2021
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Action summary

ROMACTED, “Promoting good governance and Roma empowerment at local level”, is a Joint Programme between the European Union (DG NEAR) and the Council of Europe. The programme will be implemented by the Council of Europe’s Support Team of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma issues and the Office of the Directorate General of Programmes in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Turkey.

To build up political will and sustained policy engagement of authorities, to enhance democratic participation and empowerment of local Roma communities, to design and implement projects and to access national and external funds.

  1. To empower Roma community - on the individual level (assisting people to practice their basic rights and to expand their capacity and skills), as well as on the community level (assisting people to get organised to voice out their interests around community problem solving);

  2. To improve and expand the institutions' commitment, capacities, knowledge and skills in working for Roma inclusion, putting in practice the concepts of good governance;

The specificity of the actions would be to assist the local authorities to integrate Roma specific dimension/measures into the mainstream local policies, budgets and public service delivery in their agenda. 

Estimated results

The key assumptions for this support are based on the theory of change and are as follows:

  • Support to local authorities for ensuring openness, transparency and equity in dealing with local plans and budgets will lead to inclusive local plans and resource;
  • Enhanced capacity-building through training and coaching has a positive impact on public administration for delivering quality services to all citizens (including Roma citizens);
  • Municipality regulations and practices have an impact on the participation and empowerment of Roma: information is available, there is a recognition of the Community Action Group, participation is effective;
  • Community Action Group interventions will have a positive impact on presenting choices to be transformed into actions that will increase the ability of ordinary Roma citizens to assess their needs, contribute to the development of local public projects, watch-over their implementation, and monitor the local public budget;

Main activities

  • All Programme activities and incentives are meant to support strategic interventions (training, coaching, the implementation of participatory working cycles, advocacy actions, etc. during key moments of the municipal cycles: planning, budgeting, local decisions, projects etc.) which influence the attitudes, behaviour and actions of the local actors.
  • The Programme will adapt its actions and activities to each country and to each selected location from these countries, in order to fit in the policy cycle and to the dynamics and reality of each municipality, thus bringing an additional input to existing policies and practices for an effective and more inclusive functioning;
  • One of the leading guidelines in the methodology of the Programme is that participation in local governance can only be effective if it is context-appropriate. Thus, preliminary mapping, assessment, baseline survey and research are done in each selected municipality so as to facilitate the adaptation of the Programme and its support and monitoring of the process

This webpage has been produced using funds of a joint project between the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

Project at a glance
  • Duration: 36 months (May 2017 – April 2020)
  • Beneficiaries/Partners: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey
  • Funding: The European Union and the Council of Europe
  • Budget: 3 750 000 EUR

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence. 

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