Tag: Juventas

President of Montenegro supported LGBTI community

Posted on by Milutin

Jakov Milatović, newly elected President of Montenegro, met on 28 June 2023 with representatives of the LGBTI community and organisations that support them on the occasion of International Day and Pride Month. That was an opportunity to gain insight into the challenges these communities face.

Mr. Milatović clearly stated that Montenegro is a country of equal rights for every citizen and that there shouldn’t be any kind of discrimination. To achieve that, institutional and legal support have to be ensured for every person.

Our colleagues from Juventas, Queer Montenegro, and Stana were among those who met with the President and presented their work.

Support to unaccompanied and separated refugee children

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Montenegro is sharing the same challenges as the rest of Western Balkan countries. Between January and December 2022, Montenegro registered 8,298 arrivals, including 463 children (285 boys, 178 girls) mainly from Afghanistan, Iran, and Bangladesh. This presented an increase of 161 % compared to arrivals in 2021. In addition, in 2022, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, around 95 000 Ukrainian citizens entered Montenegro (8047 applied for temporary protection).

Our member organisation Juventas published the “Guide on referral system/social services delivery for UASC in Montenegro”. This practical tool is of use for those who work with unaccompanied or separated child, citizen of a third country, or a stateless person under the age of 18, who entered Montenegro unaccompanied by an adult who takes care of him or remained unaccompanied after entering Montenegro, until placed under guardianship in accordance with the regulations of Montenegro.

The Guide will be a multipliable model for the efficient provision of social services to the UASC to support the establishment of a protection-sensitive migration management system in the target countries. It will serve to assist the UASC who approached our services and ensure that the assistance in service provision is provided in a timely and professional manner.

This document is prepared within the project “Security for Human Beings and Borders – Combating Smuggling of Migrants in the Western Balkans”, financed by the Group 484 through the EU project and implemented by the Nisma për Ndryshim Shoqëror – ARSIS (Albania) and NGO Juventas (Montenegro).

The Guide is available following this link>>>.

 

Alternative sanctions and probation in Montenegro

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Study The system of alternative sanctions and probation in Montenegro – legal framework and the transition process from imprisonment to re-integration into society is the project activity of our member organisation Juventas, as a partner of the project to strengthen probation and alternative sanctions in Montenegro and Serbia. The project was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands. The main goal is to contribute to improved security in communities, reducing the rates of returnee and more efficient application of alternative sanctions.

The first part of the study contains an overview of the institutional and legal framework of the probation system and alternative sanctions in Montenegro, with special reference to parole, conditional condemnation and conditional condemnation with protective surveillance. Also, special attention is paid to comparative analysis, with Serbia, Croatia and Switzerland systems.

The second part of the study deals with the transition from imprisonment to re-integration into society. The focus is at the regulation of this transition in the Montenegrin legislative framework, and then follows the description of that process from the point of view of the persons who have passed through that process. The study provides a kind of insight into the functioning of the criminal sanction execution system and underlines both good and quality sides, and those that need to be improved in the coming period.

The aim was to analyze this process, identify legal solutions, practical implications, positive things, but also shortcomings, and all the endeavor to create a kind of road map that all relevant actors in this area must follow to improve it.

The roadmap is a proposal for concrete steps to be taken to correct the identified deficiencies in the system and practical functioning, and to make the system of alternative sanctions, the probation system and transition through the criminal sanctions of the criminal sanctions better and post-penalty acceptance more efficient.

During the preparation of the study, cooperation was established with many institutions, without whom authors would not be able to obtain data. Juventas thanks the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro, the Department of Criminal Sanctions, the Directorate for Conditioning, and the Center for Social Work in Podgorica.

Thanks also go to the expert term from the Helsinki Committee of the Netherlands, which supported the entire work on the study and gave significant suggestions and advice.

Juventas are especially grateful to all prisoners and former prisoners whose sincere testimonies in the situation in practice was extremely important for making a study and enabled important data to make the road map.

The Study is available following this link>>>.

 

Accredited training for on working with people who use drugs

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Our member organisation Juventas successfully implemented accredited training on 17 and 18 November 2022 in Bečići. The training was attended and successfully completed by 20 professional workers and professional associates from the field of social and child protection.

The goal was to acquire new knowledge about the area of harm reduction programs, the legislative and legal framework important for respecting the rights of people who use drugs, as well as understanding the importance of adopting and using adequate, respectful terminology when talking about people who use drugs.

Current challenges, trends in this area and the need for additional improvements and innovations were also presented. Knowledge of the specifics of working with people who use drugs, based on full respect for autonomy and understanding of the life circumstances surrounding people in the active phase of drug use, has been strengthened.

The training provided significant support in working directly with people who use drugs, through strengthening knowledge and skills on practical examples, and gave suggestions on how the harm reduction program can be linked with the services provided by social and child protection institutions.

The training is part of the project “Competent, transparent, efficient and responsible civil society that provides services to people who use drugs in Montenegro“, which Juventas implements in partnership with the Montenegrin harm reduction network Link (also DPNSEE member organisation). This project is financially supported by the European Union through the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro.

Regional meeting “Children who use drugs”

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The regional meeting on “Children Who Use Drugs“, organised on 28 April by the Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS), was dedicated to exchanging experiences and sharing good practices in the region related to the problems and challenges faced by countries and civil society organizations in working with children and young people who use drugs, such as the availability of health and social programs for young people and children who use drugs.

Presentations on the topic had Liljana Ignjatova, Ph.D., Professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje, Department of Psychiatry, and Head of the Centre for Prevention and Treatment of Drug Addiction, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Eranda Berisha from Centre for Social Work Pristina, Kosovo*, Skerdi Zahaj, consultant in “Initiative for Social Change” ARSIS from Albania, Marija Mijović social worker at the NGO Juventas from Montenegro and Denis Dedajić from NGO Margina from Bosnia Herzegovina.

From the presentations of all speakers, it can be concluded that the rate of children and young people using drugs and other psychoactive substances is increasing. Health and other relevant institutions do not have an adequate answer to this question. In all countries in the region there is a complete lack of appropriate treatment programs for children who use drugs.

Recommendations from the meeting include:

  • Use good practices from countries where there are programs to treat and care for children and young people who use drugs
  • Prepare and adopt appropriate programs for the treatment of children and young people who use drugs
  • Strengthen partnerships between CSOs and health and social institutions in policymaking and provision of services for children using drugs

The project “The Role of CSOs in the Western Balkans in Providing Social Services and Preventing Social Exclusion” is funded by SIDA – Swedish International Development Agency, through the Balkan Civil Society Development Network.

The project is implemented regionally in six Western Balkan countries, including ARSIS Youth Support Social Organization (Albania), Asocijacija Margina (Bosnia and Herzegovina), HOPS (Northern Macedonia), Qendra Labyrinth (Kosovo), Prevent (Serbia), NVO Juventas (Montenegro).

 

Open call for project participants

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Partners of the project “No Risk, no borders for young people” invite young people aged 18 – 28 from the Western Balkans to send their application for participate in the project.

The project is coordinated by the Drug Policy Network South East Europe (DPNSEE) together with the project partners Aksion Plus (Albania), Margina  (Bosnia Herzegovina), Juventas (Montenegro), Prevent and Re Generation (Serbia) and supported by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) within its 4th Open Call co-financed by the European Union.

More about the project is available following this link>>>.

Participants profile:

  • 25 activists, youth leader and youth workers, preferably members of civil society organisations
  • Aged 18 to 28
  • Young people from or those working with the youth from groups at increased risk
  • Interested in learning how to cooperate in multicultural settings
  • Able to communicate and write in English
  • Willing to work as multipliers of experience and results through visibility and dissemination activities, before, during the project actitivies, including the reporting phase, and after the project
  • A participants group with an appropriate geographic, gender, national and balance of members from or working with various groups of youth at risk

What we expect from the participants:

  • Complete pre-tasks and participate in the follow-up activities of the project
  • Attend all sessions and activities during the both Workshops
  • Agree and understand that the project partners are responsible and coordinators for this project and will not challenge or create any issues that will influence its flow
  • Bring along personal items as requested by the organisers of the activities (i.e. clothes, shoes, medicins in case of health issues, etc.)
  • Participate in promoting visibility of the project
  • Participate in the production of the deliverables of the project
  • Be active on dissemination of the results as a multiplier of new experiences, info and knowledge
  • Provide all necessary documents (invoices, visa expenses, travel reservations, ID copies, boarding passes, etc)

The structure of the project workshops is highly intensive and demanding, plus requires full attendance and participation. The workshops starts at 9:30 am and will end around 8:00 pm with regular breaks for refreshments, meals and personal needs. Therefore, youths who will attend as participants need to show responsibility commitment during their participation. The topic of the project is related to many indoor activities and less outdoor. Any extra hours for touring around besides the free time as they are mentioned in the timetable are not eligible.

If the protection measures in the countries where the activities are held prohibit gatherings of large groups, the Workshops 1 and 2 will be provided online.

Also, work with youth from groups at increased risk during the project may be challenging, but the project partners will provide support from experienced staff.

If interested, the Open Call is available following this link>>>. Please, share this information as wide as possible around the region.

The application forms is available at the web pages and social media of the project partners. Each project partner is eligible to select up to 5 participants in the project.

 

Call for the logo and visual identity of the “No risk, no borders for young people project”

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Partners of the project “No Risk, no borders for young people” invite young people aged 15 – 30 from the Western Balkans to send their proposals for the visual identity of the project.

The project is coordinated by the Drug Policy Network South East Europe with the project partners Aksion Plus (Albania), Margina (Bosnia Herzegovina), Juventas (Montenegro), Prevent and Re Generation (Serbia), and it is supported by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) within its 4th Open Call and co-financed by the European Union.

Proposal for the project visual identity should include:

  • Logo and colour scheme
  • Cover and profile photo for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (2 proposals for each social network)

Incomplete proposals and those which arrive after the deadline will be rejected.

The deadline for sending proposals is Wednesday 24 March at 17:00 CET.

You can find more about the Call following this link>>>.

No risk, no borders for young people

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Photos: Project EUINFONET

DPNSEE was one of 4 organisations from Serbia which signed the contract with the (RYCO) for implementation of projects in scope of the 4th Open Call “A Better Region Starts with Youth”. The Call is financially supported by the European Union. The Contracting Meeting was held on 23 February 2021 in the Human Rights House (Kuća ljudskih prava), in Belgrade.

During the signing ceremony, the welcoming remarks were delivered by the Head of Information, Communication and Press at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia Mr Paul-Henri Presset, the Head of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Serbia Ms Marija Bulat, Youth Representative in the RYCO Governing Board Mr Marko Kostić and the Assistant Minister for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Serbia Mr Uroš Pribićević.

Other three projects supported will be implemented by Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina, Red Cross of Vojvodina and Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.

The selected projects will enable development of youth-led processes of intercultural dialogue and reconciliation in the Western Balkans, and the development of social capital among young people by strengthening the competences of young people and those who work with them.

Moreover, the projects are important for furthering implementation capacities of CSOs using a learning-by-doing approach, with special focus on increasing capacities to adapt and remain operational during COVID-19 pandemic situations and imposed safety measures. The supported projects standout as creative and innovative proposals, including online components or online focus.

The DPNSEE project “No Risk, no borders for young people” will strive to contribute to the efforts of the reconciliation processes in the WB countries and stronger youth participation in CSOs by developing and supporting regional youth cooperation focused on youth at risk, as its desirable overall impact/change.

It will be implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia in partnership with our member organisations Aksion Plus, Margina, Juventas, Prevent and Re Generation.

The video from the signing ceremony is available at the Youtube channel of the EU delegation in Serbia

 

130 project proposals for the RYCO Call

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The Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) opened its Fourth Open Call intended to support and empower partnerships between civil society organizations, secondary schools and other actors in implementing activities in the areas of regional youth cooperation, mobility and exchange; and enabling environment for regional youth cooperation. The general objective of this call for proposals is to support the civil society in the Western Balkans to foster reconciliation and regional youth cooperation during COVID-19 pandemic by providing young people with opportunities that create space for dialogue, mutual learning and increased understanding across communities and RYCO Contracting Parties, as well as contribute to increasing capacities of CSOs in offering meaningful opportunities to young people in a changed reality caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Call was closed at midnight on 12 October 2020.

DPNSEE and its member organisations Aksion Plus (Albania), Margina (Bosnia Herzegovina), Juventas (Montenegro), Prevent and Re Generacija (Serbia) prepared the project proposal No Risk, no borders for young people. Our project will strive to contribute to the efforts of the reconciliation processes in the WB countries and stronger youth participation in CSOs by developing and supporting regional youth cooperation focused on youth at risk, as its desirable overall impact/change. The project is strongly focused on marginalized youth groups that are in our context defined as youth at risk consisting of young people who use drugs, sex workers, LGBTI population, youth in conflict with the law and others addressed as “youth with alternative lifestyles and identities”.

We are awaiting December 2020 and some good news from RYCO!

Two experts for pilot practice on former prisoners` re-integration in Montenegro

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Juventas announced Call for application for two members of expert mission for developing and supporting the implementation of pilot practice on former prisoners` re-integration in Montenegrin prison system. We’re searching for EU expert for supporting treatment of prisoners and re-integration as a part of a project ”Provision of support to former prisoners for successful re-integration into the community – ReCover”.

The project is financially supported by European Union and Government of Montenegro, through IPA II Multi-annual Action Programme for Montenegro on Employment, Education and Social Policies.

The project intends to contribute to the respect for human rights of prisoners and their personality, dignity and right to fair treatment, while representing a common basis for further development and improvement of the prison system in Montenegro. The focus is on developing new program and support mechanisms that would prepare prisoners for the process of release as well as support former prisoners in the process of re-integration through providing employment services, social services, psychological support and counselling.

All the details of the Calls you can find following this link>>>