Montenegro

Montenegro adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2017 for the period 2017-2018. The NAP was developed by a number of government entities, including the Ministries of Defense; Interior; and Foreign Affairs. The NAP does not mention civil society involvement in the NAP development process. The NAP is mostly oriented towards ensuring women’s participation in the security sector at the local (police force), national (armed forces) and international (peacekeeping) levels. It also addresses the issue of human trafficking in Montenegro and provides mechanisms to address it regionally and internationally as well as protecting women and girls from discrimination and gender-based violence. The NAP specifies, under each objective and activity, a responsible entity for achieving the tasks identified and provides indicators to measure their implementation. While relevant ministries and donors are responsible for funding the NAP, there is no specific budget attached to the NAP. 

Montenegro reported on the implementation of its NAP, as well as WPS commitments, in its national reporting for Beijing+25 and in preparation for CSW64 (2020). Specifically, the country provided the following updates, among others (pp. 50-51): 

  • Reporting on the implementation of the Action Plan is regular and is carried out on an annual basis. The Ministry of Defence and the Army of Montenegro are the bearers of responsibility for 20 activities, out of which 17 activities are already implemented, one activity is on-going and two activities have not been implemented.
  • In February 2019, the draft of the new Action Plan with the Implementation Program 2019- 2020 has been made and it is in the process of adoption.
  • The Committee for Gender Equality of the Montenegrin Parliament, at the joint sessions with the Committee for Security and Defence, examines reports on the implementation of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security in Montenegro, defining measures and activities to integrate gender equality issues in the processes of defence system reform and at all levels in which decisions are made and policies are created and implemented.
  • The Committee has, in the previous period, organized an International Conference “Cetinje Parliamentary Forum: Women, Peace and Security” with the aim of implementing and understanding Resolution 1325 and its accompanying resolutions (R1820, R1888 and R1889) as well as exchanging regional and international experiences when it comes to women’s participation in the security system and the definition of future activities in this field and the continuation of good regional cooperation between parliaments and governments, as well as with the non-governmental sector.

Montenegro became an independent state in 2006, after a referendum that resulted in the country’s peaceful separation from Serbia, both of whom were previously part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Montenegro does not have a recent history of armed conflict; however, it was involved in military aggression during the war in Bosnia (1991-1995). Montenegro is also a member of NATO and participates in UN peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Liberia, Cyprus and Somalia. 

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National Action Plan (2017-2018)

View Document

CEDAW

2006

Global Gender Gap Index 2020

71 out of 153

Arms Trade Treaty Ratified

2014

Military expenditure (2019)

$89.3 million USD

Explore Montenegro's National Action Plan

Read the 2017-2018 NAP
  • Actors
  • Timeframe
  • Objectives
  • Actions/Activities
  • Indicators
  • M&E
  • Budget
  • Disarmament

NAP Development

There is no mention of civil society involvement in the development of the NAP.

WILPF does not have a country section in Montenegro and therefore was not involved in the development of the NAP.

The NAP was a result of a joint effort by Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces of Montenegro, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Police Directorate, National Security Agency,  Customs Administration, Institute for Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Committee for Gender Equality of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ministry of Minority Rights in cooperation with the institutions envisaged for implementation of the Action Plan, Ombudsman, and Human Resources Administration.

NAP Implementation

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the academic community and international organisations were listed as holders of responsibility and associates on some of the activities in the NAP. For example, under objective 3 (Integrate gender perspective in the education programs for implementation of UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolutions), the academic community and NGOs are listed as holders of responsibility for activity 3.1, “Organise education on peace and non-violence in schools, as well as on UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolutions”.

For the purpose of monitoring and implementation, the NAP requires the creation of an  Inter-Agency Working Group and the establishment of an Ad-Hoc Parliamentary Group.

NAP Monitoring and Evaluation

The NAP does not specifically address the role of civil society in assessing the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda on the ground.

Under every objective and activity, the NAP specifies a responsible entity for achieving the task and it provides indicators to measure its implementation.

The implementation period for the NAP is 2017-2018.

The primary objectives of Montenegro's NAP include:

  • Provide institutional mechanisms for implementing the NAP for applying the UNSCR 1325
  • Enhance the gender perspective through participation in the international activities for implementation of the UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolutions
  • Integrate gender perspective in the education programs for implementation of UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolutions
  • Introduce gender balanced representation in the activities of security system  
  • Increase the representation of the women in the decision making processes in the area of security and peace building  
  • Establish effective protection of women and girls from discrimination and gender – based violence
  • Realise activities to raise the awareness level of the wider public about the human beings trafficking problem  
  • Improve the cooperation about the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolutions
  • Monitoring the implementation of NAP concerning the applying of UNSCR 1325

Each area of work has different actions assigned. For example, Strategic Objective 1  (Provide institutional mechanisms for implementing the NAP for applying the UNSCR 132) includes the following actions:

  • Make decisions about the education of the Inter Agency Working Group for monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan
  • Establish the evidence according to pole and gender-sorted statistics in the security sector  (in the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces of Montenegro, Ministry of Interior, Police Directorate, National Security Agency, Customs Administration, Institute for Execution of Criminal Sanctions)
  • Continuously conduct the evidence on female members representation in the security system, their education, training and guidance in the career, including the participation in the multinational operations, participation in civilian missions and in the international activities
  • Establish the Ad-Hoc Parliamentary Group in the Parliament of Montenegro that will assist in promoting the UNSCR 1325 and implementation of the NAP
  • Pass of the NAP at the institutions level
  • Conduct training for the managers and employees in all institutions envisaged for implementation of the NAP in order to ensure the conditions and create favourable institutional environment and infrastructural support of determined activities

Each strategic objective has a number of listed indicators. For example, the Strategic Objective 2, “Enhance the gender perspective through participation in the international activities for implementation of the UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolutions”, includes several indicators:

  1. Data about the international activities shown through gender statistics
  2. Number of activities that have gender perspective  
  3. Number of the meeting at international level  
  4. Number of women involved in the networking process  
  5. Number of common initiated Initiatives
  6. Number of exchanged publications
  7. Number of media reports  
  8. Number of created modules for training
  9. Number of the conducted training

The first two objectives in the NAP address implementation on the national and international levels. Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces of Montenegro, Ministry of Interior, Police Directorate, National Security Agency, Customs Administration, Institute for Execution of Criminal Sanctions are responsible for implementing Objective 1, “provide institutional mechanisms for implementing the Action Plan for applying the UNSCR 1325”. Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, NGOs, International Organizations, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign affairs are listed as responsible for Objective 2, “enhance the gender perspective through participation in the international activities for implementation of the UNSCR 1325 and its accompanying resolution”.

There is no specific budget attached to the NAP. However, for each action, the NAP identifies financial resources.

The NAP does not address disarmament issues or connect the proliferation of weapons with women’s insecurity. Instead, Montenegro’s NAP develops actions to the inclusion of more women in the police and armed forces and peacekeeping operations, rather than addressing the key obstacles to women’s participation and rights related to arms trade.

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