News Archive 2021 – Help Montenegro

ICT Cortex Academy – for the future development of the IT sector in Montenegro

28.12.2021

ICT Cortex Academy is one of the three main reasons why many Montenegrin IT companies have gathered in the ICT caster. In general, the problem is the same – lack of staff, not adequately education, formal education needs to be upgraded, said Valentina Beg-Deljanin, chief officer for education at ICT Cortex, with whom we cooperate within the regional program RECONOMY.

We talked with Ms. Beg-Deljanin about their efforts to connect the education system and the economy as soon as possible through training and professional development, ie through educational programs offered by ICT Cortex Academy through its members, IT companies, which will produce faster and more efficient and quality IT workforce.

Help: After a successful start with a training project in seven companies, members of the ICT Cortex cluster and the first training for high school students with the Secondary Vocational School “Vaso Aligrudić”, you then organized a couple of successful trainings, which eventually resulted in the Academy. How did that development path go?

Beg-Deljanin: In the beginning, we organized with the High Electrotechnical School “Vaso Aligrudić” the realization of their practical classes in our companies. We had several phases of the project itself, because, among other things, in addition to providing knowledge, we also wanted to provide some professional skills and send school children to the labor market. These are mostly children in the third and fourth grade of high school, who are already, let’s say, ready to start work, or continue their education this year.

First of all, they received an introductory course, which was based on native PHP, and after that course, which was taken by 60 students, we had an eliminatory test conducted by their professors, together in cooperation with us. After that, 28 of students were divided into groups and went to practice in seven companies.

They had a simulated work process, which had all the stages of what it looks like in real life – they created a web application information system for their school library. At the very beginning, they received, in the terms of reference and technical documentation, a clickable prototype, a completed front part and a completed database, which they were supposed to connect in a laravel, which is the most modern technology used in the labor market. So they coded exclusively in the backend, but through that work, through the finished prototype and the database, they learned about the databases themselves and about the frontend, backend and all that together.

It is interesting to point out that, two of them, students, did outsourcing for the Bild studio this year, just the frontend part, just to underline how they learned the frontend through some backend.

Help: And for the best of them, for student Jovan Popović, the ICT Cortex provided additional learning as well as work in one of the members of Cortex.

Beg-Deljanin: Yes, Jovan Popović also got a job in one of our members at Coinis, and in another member, in the Logate Academy, he is going on a development course. The course is worth 1,200 euros and it is a really great opportunity to further improvement his knowledge. And, when he finishes school, in addition to already having a job, he will be for real, as they say in this world – a machine.

Help: This was practically a pilot project, which proved to be very successful – connecting the economy, within IT technologies, with better education to raise the level of knowledge and skills. Did you have any feedback or reaction from other schools? If I’m correct, the Cortex have cooperation with the secondary vocational school from Berane?

Beg-Deljanin: Yes. So this is now a new cycle of “let’s do IT” practice that will be part of a large program of the Cortex Academy, and goes to the level of five towns in Montenegro. After a successful pilot project with the school “Vaso Aligrudić”, we decided to pursued what we wanted even before, but now we have gained some additional conditions for implementation – we have expanded to five towns. So, apart from Podgorica, we will have an internship for students from Berane, Bijelo Polje, Nikšić and Pljevlja. We mapped two schools in all these places, primarily vocational high schools, which work according to the curriculum, either or computers and network systems, or web and mobile application development specialists. They already have web programming in their curriculum and they are naturally a basic group for us, so that at that we can continue to educate them. And besides them, we also mapped gymnasiums, because about 80 percent of the staff in all IT companies come from gymnasiums, of course after college. What the gymnasiums students lack, even though they have very good work habits and responsibilities, is a narrower specialization. And like this we decided to give them the opportunity, if it is possible to realize in this school year, with all other obligations, that they also be put in place teams for practice.

I would immediately add how all of it should look like.

Applications were completed on Wednesday (December 22nd). We are still collecting lists of students with schools. In those five cities, there will be two teams of 11 from each school, maybe we will mix them up, which is something that we will adjust on the base of the number of applicants and the success of the project. Ten teams are all the total capacity of the project and ten teams will go to ten companies, as the school “Vaso Aligrudić” went last year, but now it will be more schools. It would be optimal for all nine to 10 schools to participate, for each to have its own team going to the company, to have an accompanying teacher, a mentor from the company and finally also a presentation of a technical solution at the level of five cities.

Just like last year, we will do introductory courses, but little bit expanded this year. In addition to PHP, object-oriented programming will also be in the learning process. There will be two elimination tests and then we will introduce one team from each school, which will have from five to seven students, to do the practice of working on a web application for the school library. From May to June, or July, these are only some approximate periods, but at the end of the school year- they will be organized to spend eight Sundays in companies in Podgorica, where they will work on assignment, and the rest of the week to work from home under the supervision of professors and mentors, through our software, on that task.

We also had very successful meetings with the municipalities of Berane, Bijelo Polje, Nikšić, Pljevlja and of course the Capital Podgorica, which supported the project. We will cover transport and food, ie logistics costs, to each of these municipalities, in cooperation with the municipalities.

Help: I guess you had a good feedback, both from schools and other state institutions!? Primary goal was to connect the economy and education, so that the most capable and high-quality staff would be available. Do you have the support of others from the business community?

Beg-Deljanin: The business community is behind this, because ICT Cortex is, as you know, an association of IT companies and now the membership is approaching to 20. So the economy from its side really supports this project, see the benefits. Let’s say in a percentage of 10 % it is an instant result. Because last school year, out of 30 students, three of them got some kind of engagement, either permanent or part-time, while the results for these others will be seen either next year or in three years. The staff is process mostly built over time, but the economy recognizes benefits and supporting this.

Help: Not only IT economy, but I guess in all other segments of economic development IT experts are very important, or rather to say necessary nowadays?

Beg-Deljanin: The IT industry is generally changing the structure of the labor market in all sectors. There is no longer a sector that does not need an IT expert. As far as we are concerned, we have a very good cooperation with Crnogorski Telekom, but its still belongs to the part of communications. As for some expansion, we intend to educate staff for public administration and energy sector, as well as for tourism and everything else, but now our focus is on IT companies, purely because of the resources we have.

Help: Then the formation of the Academy as part of this process comes as some logical sequence?

Beg-Deljanin: Cortex Academy is actually a slightly broader picture than the practice for high school students. The situation is more such that the practice for high school students is only one of the directions in the offer of the Cortex Academy.

The academy is one of the three main reasons why companies have come together in ICT Cortex. In general, the problem is the same – there is a lack of staff, not adequately educated, formal education needs to be upgraded and then when companies hire people, they spend a lot of time and investment in the “on boarding” process, where from the entry level, they create practically juniors. The companies themselves have been conducting additional educational programs for many years, which serve, among other things, as “on boarding”.

We have now gathered all the educational programs offered by our members under one umbrella of the Cortex Academy, where there was a single application, and the training will be conducted in companies. We have 13 educators: Alicorn, Amplitudo, Bild Sudio, Coinis, Codeus, Codepxel, Logate, Data Design, DigitalBee, Oykos Devolopment, Omnitech, Optimus Academy Samrt and Sky Sat from Herceg Novi. All has headquartered in Podgorica, except Sky Sat.

It will all last from February to July. The applications were over, he had over 1000 applications, but of course we will have to conduct some kind of selection. This will be done by the companies and I believe that it will produce a lot of new employees, because all these trainings, will get, for the best – offer for employment after the training.

And in addition, as the Cortex Academy, we have organized other courses, because the interest is really high, and not everyone can get into companies – that are in collaboration with other partners.

We will have more concrete details about it in January, but these are five major areas that accompany educational programs in the members: projects management, design, programming – which includes web applications and mobile applications and backand and frontend orientation, software testing and marketing. That will be crown of that process, after the product is finished. We currently have courses offered in companies and online and the total number of applications, as I said is 1000.

Help: ICT Cortex have participated in several important international IT events this year, including the Digital Summit, where you also achieved results. Several of your members, in cooperation with the “Vaso Aligrudić” school, have secured a significant project worth over 500. 000 Euro. Does it show the level and quality of what the cluster has achieved so far in connecting and raising the level of education and the economy?

Beg-Deljanin: Last year, in parallel with the practice, we launched an application for the Regional Challenge Fund with the school. It is about improving education through cooperative education, and given the rather strong consortium and good program, we received that grant.

So we will provide most modern equipment for the school, we have already procured computers and other tools that we need for both – work and practice, to be made by the schools its. And as part of that, there will be training for teachers. This has practically placed the Electrical Engineering School “Vaso Aligrudić” at the very top in terms of school equipment and we believe that this will really push education a few steps forward. Now the students coming from that school will be a few steps ahead of the students who are in college.

Our plan or desire is to do a similar or the same thing with other schools that cooperate with us. We will know more about details in the coming months, but in any case it is something that will be great help for schools. Because, for example, through our foundation “Doing good” we equipped the school in Nikšić, with 30 PC. When you have programming and web application development in the curriculum, it is not convenient that the equipment you are working on is outdated or non-existent and that the systems are booted up throughout school hours, so it takes so long that you practically have to write code on paper. This is definitely something that needs to change through initiatives like this, and through our work we are trying to improve schooling.

Help: I guess because of everything that has been done so far, ICT Cortex cluster also received support from the state. You have signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Economic Development for three years worth 1 million Euro.

Beg-Deljanin: Yes, it is worth 1 million Euro, with half financed by the state and half invested by members who are part of Cortex.

Help: So the state (Montenegro) has recognized the interest in cooperating with you?

Beg-Deljanin: Well, yes, we are co-financed by the state, which is really a great recognition for an NGO because it shows that we have serious projects, that we are of serious interest to the economy and the state andwe are doing projects and that improve society in general.

Basically, at the beginning of December, we signed a three-year contract, within which we received support in the amount of half million Euro, and the other half a million will be invested by members. The contract is for three years with, but we hope, certainty that it will continue after those three years.

Help: We have already mentioned that the development of education in the IT sector concerns not only the IT economy and industry but also all other areas of the economy and society as a whole. You are also collaborating with Help within the RECONOMY project on one of the programs related to agricultural development. The project is currently in the research faze. What’s next?

Beg-Deljanin: Aggrotech is definitely something that is definitely well used in Europe – let’s say, a smart direction in agriculture and economy. In Montenegro, it is at a very low level. Right now, as you said, the research is ongoing. This is done by a fellow external consultant, but what I do know is that field visits are underway, that some of the results of that research are being extracted. In some companies, it is at a good level, but most of the work needs to be done on the digitalization of agriculture, let’s call it that.

I would like to mention an example – when it comes to this practice, after the end of the last pilot project, when students received from us an Arduino packages for robotics, we organized training in digital electronics at the beginning of this school year, sometime in October or November- for them to learn how to use these Arduino packages. Then, in just over a month, with an member, Optimus Academy Smart and professors from the University, they went from applied mathematics, basic logic, basic programming, electronics, to practical project design, 3D printing, etc.

And there, among the interesting projects, were invent smart fish feeders. With this we want to point out that we did not everything just for the presentation of technical skills, but we continued to work on promoting education. And we hope to continue with this project in 2022.

Help: You said that you had 1000 applications for these trainings. Does this mean that there is a bigg interest of young people in training and improvement in IT technologies?

Beg-Deljanin: There is, of course. In high schools we had a pretty good response, of course with the help of a teacher, because children are sometimes a little more passive than we would expect, but it is logical, because their head is in a variety of other things, besides school. But the response at the faculties was quite good, our hall was full there, we had a lot of inquiries both by phone and email. A lot of people are also interested in retraining or just specialization, because this is one industry that is really stable.

In this previous period, COVID proved to be practically the only one industry growing all the time, which is no longer the future but the present – and the necessary present. And which, in addition to being stable and constantly growing, is changing day by day. So specializations and lifelong learning are simply a condition to stay in the industry. We received a lot of applications from the elderly. When I say older, I mean people who were already destined for a career, because of college or school, and who now want to retrain in the IT industry, whether it’s marketing or programming .

Help: And finally, can you give us a summary for the short-term plans of the cluster?

Beg-Deljanin: In addition to the implementation of these educational programs in our companies, we are planning to monitor all these students all the time, offer some extra teaching activities, such as training for certain skills. For high school students, this has already been done last school year, and it will be the same this year. Also, when it comes to these online courses, there are two groups of people out there. Some of them who just want to specialize to improve or retrain, if they are not looking for a job – it is up to them to meet the conditions required by the course itself. If it is happening that they are looking for employment and are not in this education program, we will also offer them the opportunity to enter in our HR (human resources) database. We will be giving them a couple of months to review the course they have chosen, and then, they will get a practical task from which they will have to make a mini project so that we can then put them towards companies for the purpose of hiring or putting in the base. So when the company needed, we can get them out of the base.

Help: When it comes to these courses, not in cooperation with schools – but for the people who want to retrain or improve their skills, are the courses at your Academy affordable?

Beg-Deljanin: Yes. Most courses on our platform are for free. Courses that are certified at the national level are charged, such as a course from Oykos Development that actually corresponds to one of the module from the school curriculum, which is copied for adults, as part of the national education program. Oykos Development is certified to implement these programs and offers courses that are modular parts of its program, so it has to be paid for good reason. Logate Academy as well, because of its tradition and because of its certificates and Digital Bee which is also certified for education. These are the only courses that are for paying, and the rest of it are free of charge.

And we also have a very good support from the Capital of Podgorica. As a part of their annual scholarships, they set aside a certain part of scholarships for the IT sector, because it is recognized as a key branch of economic development. They have standard criteria, students must be on the final year of faculty with a high grade average, but they have all the courses, even those that are for paying, free of charge, with an internship in the company.

Knowledge is really accessible in this case, what worries us is the fact that people often take education offered lightly, when it is free, they appreciate it more when it is paid. However, we are working in good faith that most of them will really recognize and take seriously the opportunity we offer, because if someone just goes through education to pass it in the end, they will not be satisfied, because they will not get a formal paper and will not get a job.

Our goal is to train people, to give them value, to know how to work and how to improve their skills, and ultimately to help us all together to raise the sector to a higher level.

Help is collaborating with the ICT Coretex caster on the regional RECONOMY program.

RECONOMY is a regional inclusive green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with others in the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans.

Biljana Jovićević

Human rights fight – on concrete examples – every day

10.12.2021.

Today is International Human Rights Day! It is quite easy to use phrases repeated so many times and posted on this occasion in the media and social networks- such as: “Today is Human Rights Day. Respect for human rights and dignity is a fundamental value”!

Implementing words into practice is much more difficult and demanding. German organization Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe has been doing this for 45 years, every day on the ground, from Europe to Africa and Asia. In Montenegro since 1999, when columns of refugees from Kosovo (about 120,000) arrived fleeing from the war, adding to a number of refugees who had previously fled the war in B&H.

A number of refugees and internally displaced persons never returned to their homes, rather decided to stay and began to build a new life in Montenegro. Help, with the huge financial help of donors, was among the first to lend a helping hand – and two decades later we continue to work every day, through numerous first aid programs, housing, to various employment and mediation projects.

During two decades we have expanded the circle of those to whom we have directly extended a hand- other vulnerable categories of the population in Montenegro, including the Roma-Egyptian (RE) community and other socially vulnerable groups, children, youth, women and the unemployed.

In all parts of Montenegro in that period we had built dozens of housing units for refugees, displaced persons and socially vulnerable people. We have organized and we are still organizing numerous training programs, acquiring knowledge, skills and qualifications for employment – aware that only long-term sustainable solutions can produce better life quality for these communities and groups.

For example, Help’s mediators, Denisona Beriša, Ibrahim Tatari and Dijamant Pajazitaj have been helping the RE population for already years to get health or social assistance more easily, apply to the employment bureau and look for work. Not exclusively for them – and not just for these areas, but also for education. We have managed to present the Institute of Mediators for Social Inclusion to the authorities as an instrument for easier access to basic social services and rights, as well as a sustainable model that we hope the state will adopt as a necessity.

Therefore, the project of the European Union and the Government of Montenegro “Social Inclusion of Roma Men and Women and Egyptians with the Mediation of Inclusion Associates” is being implementing, within the European Union and Montenegro Program for Employment, Education and Social Protection.

The project is implemented by “Help”, which is also the employer of mediators in the next year – in partnership with the municipalities of Podgorica, Ulcinj and Berane.

34 mediators, who received professional training and received certificates, were deployed in 11 municipalities in the next year, with the task of providing members of the RE community easier access to local institutions, i.e. easier exercise of basic rights, and thus better integration into society.

The second project we are currently implementing as a long-term solution as we hope, the program “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans to strengthen the stability of the region in 2021-2022” is worth 3.35 million euros.

Within, training for the unemployed with work is underway, where we mediate between employers who are looking for labor and the unemployed who will get the opportunity to be employed for one year, with the possibility of extension. This is also one of the models that Help has previously tested through various projects.

In addition to the on-the-job training program that stimulates employment among the unemployed, which will eventually be passed by about 40 candidates, in the project for Montenegro, we continued to support the Center for Execution of Criminal Sanctions in Spuž – UIKS: reconstruction and renovate the pig farm, as well as implementing programs for the recovery of prisoners, which also includes receiving professional and certified training that will facilitate their socialization after release from prison.

As we noted, one of the priority groups that Help wants to support are young people and women, their better education and faster integration into society. In accordance with that aim is the project RECONOMY regional inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with Help in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and the Western Balkans.

Within this project, Help is a partner in Montenegro with the ICT cluster Cortex, which brings together successful technology companies in the country, which for their own needs but also for the development and future of the overall economy, working on education and training for young future programmers and IT professionals, connecting the education sector and business.

One of the successful models is the cooperation with the High Vocational School “Vaso Aligrudić”, and the establishment of a technological academy is also planned.

A brilliant high school student Jovan Popović is the best example of how much it is worth investing in the education of young people.

Although in recent years we have focused on long-term solutions that would ensure a dignified life and security for the most vulnerable citizens, Help continues to strive to meet and provide first aid for medicines, baby food and similar necessities.

However, apart from slogans, we must fight for the equal rights of all – every day and concretely, helping those around us, who are in need the most. Help works on these calls every day.

Biljana Jovićević

Prokom and Viktorija satisfied with Help’s on-the-job training model

30.11. 2021

Company Prokom is on the “white list” of business taxpayers – a representative of car companies Peugeot and Suzuki, Suzuki motors, BRP programs for scooters, four-wheeled sleds and CF motors for motorcycles and four-wheelers vehicles.
They are in constant search for a qualified workforce – mechanics. Although they tried, they didn’t have any luck with the Employment Service, and that’s why they were more than happy to enter the program “Vocational on-the-job training”.
Boro Bogdanović, the manager of Prokom, says that they had incredibly great support from Help, especially from ours colleague Dženan Demić, both, for finding workers, but also for the equipment that they received.

“I thought it was much easier and better to find a worker through the Employment Bureau. I thought when someone comes to them and says ‘I want to hire a worker’, someone from the Service will tell you ‘here, you are 20 workers to choose’. However, that is not the case at all. And there, Mr. Demić helped us to find the first worker. We got a guy, very good worker, everything was fine, we respected everything, and he worked for two months. But suddenly the road to Slovenia had opened for him. I’m calling the Help, Mr. Demić, and ask him ‘what are we going to do’? He says ‘nothing, we can’t influence that, let’s find another one ‘. First step voluntarily breaks, everything signed, all procedures by your and our side. We had finished everything, and then we needed to find another worker. Help jumps in again, we get a new worker again. A new worker has come, and we respect our obligations.”

Renato Siništaj has been looking for a job in the Employment Bureau for several years, but only thanks to Help’s intervention and search, he managed to connect with a company that is looking for a worker in his profession. Occasionally, in order to support his family, he worked privately, but this is an opportunity that opens up space for him to improve his skills and possibly get a permanent job. The auto and motorcycle industry is constantly changing and advancing, and Renato Siništaj, who comes to work every morning from the neighboring municipality of Tuzi in Podgorica, is catching up with the changes here in Prokom.

“I have been registered in the Bureau for several years as an unemployed. Here fit more into the job every day, so everything is good for now.

On our question, does he have a hope for permanent employment, Siništaj answered in optimistic tone:

“As far as I can see, I think it will be like that. I work, as one would say – like for myself here. They respect me and I respect them. It will mean a lot to me, because I know where I am, and for example, that I can support my family. I also have a child, and I am married.”

Boro Bogdanović, Prokom’s manager, has praised Help’s model, which has been used for a long time, on-the-job training for vocational training programs.

“The model works very well. First, we as employers have been literally relaxed for six months when it comes to paying workers. Of course, as a serious firm, we did not allow ourselves that the worker who comes to us receives only the part that you (Help) provided. He has an additional payment from our side as well. So he has one very nice salary with your help and ours as well. We are able to invest in him for six months and bring him to the level we need to offer employment with us for 12 months. But we sincerely hope that it will be even for a longer period of time.”

Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe is implementing a 3,35 million Euro, German Government – supported program “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans” to enhance the socio-economic stability of the region in 2021 – 2022.

Viktorija Driving School, whose headquarter is in Berane, recently has opened a branch office in Podgorica as well. Help has successfully collaborated previously with Viktorija job-the job training program.

Miljan Petković, the manager of the Victoria driving school, says that in order to improve working conditions, they applied to the call of the German non-governmental organization Help, which is focused on the socio-economic development of the Western Balkans.

“Within the project, we received a donation of 10 laptops. As I have already said, this will improve the working conditions in the driving school. In addition to the training for the theoretical part of the training for future drivers, these laptops will also be used for other training that the driving school has to offer. We offer training for teaching assistants, construction machine operators, as well as, of course, computer training. In addition, I would like to point out that software is being developed that will enable our participants to test their knowledge for the theoretical part of the training. This project furthermore aims at reducing the number of unemployed from the records of the Employment Service. As part of this project, Ivana Labović is currently on-the-job training with us. She has been on the records of the Employment Bureau for some period of time. She will undergo practical training for a period of 6 months, after which she will be employed at our driving school for the next year.”

Ivana Labović is an on-the-job trained driving instructor at the Victoria driving school. For several years, she was in the Employment Bureau. Recently she applied for the Help’s program.

“”So, now in the driving school Viktorija I am going through the mentioned training and I am also gaining knowledge that will enable me to perform my job professionally and with quality. After six months with the driving school I will conclude a contract and establish an employment relationship. I would also like to add that I am a driving instructor in this driving school for an A and B category, and I am also able to undergo training for theoretical teaching here. I appeal to all young drivers to come and see for themselves the quality of both, theoretical and practical training.”

In addition to “on- the-job training” program that stimulates employment and mediates between the unemployed people and employers who need a qualified workforce (program eventually will have worked with 40 candidates), the project will continue to support the Directorate for Execution of the Criminal Sanctions in Spuž – UIKS. In the UIKS, we support the reconstruction and renovation of the farm there, as well as programs for the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Biljana Jovićević

Roma and Egyptian mediators got computers and tasks

19. 11. 2021

At the EU Info Center in Podgorica on Friday, mediators for the Roma-Egyptian population were given computers to use in the next year, while at the same time the opportunity was used to discuss the tasks on which they are assigned in institutions – employment bureaus, centers for social work and health care facilities in 11 municipalities where the project is implemented in the next 12 months.

It is a joint project of the European Union and the Government of Montenegro “Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation “, which is implemented within the European Union and Montenegro Program for Employment, Education and Social Protection.

The project is implemented by “Help”, which will be the employer of mediators in the next year – in partnership with the municipalities of Podgorica, Ulcinj and Berane.

Overall of 34 mediators, who received professional training and certificates, will be deployed in 11 municipalities in the next year, with the task of providing members of the RE community easier access to local institutions, easier exercise of basic rights, and thus better inclusion in society.

In the period of few years, since 2016 until today, Help has tested this model and trained and hired numerous mediators in the field of employment, social, health care and education. The practice has shown that during that period, with the engagement of mediators in these areas, the obstacles faced by the Roma-Egyptian community in their daily attempts to exercise these basic rights were significantly reduced.

Help expects that by the end of this project, state institutions at both, local and national level will recognize the importance of intermediaries between RE community, one of the most vulnerable categories of the population in Montenegrin society, and local services in the field, that this model will be recognized as one of the key instruments for facilitating the social inclusion of the RE population in society, and that finally mediation will be established as a formal job in administration. . We are convinced that this is in line with the Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians 2021-2025, and the Action Plan 2021.

In addition to finance provided by the European Union, as co-financier of the project, the purchase of a number of laptops for the needs of mediators in the next 12 months, as a donation, was financed by the American humanitarian community of the Church of the Saints on the Last Day, better known as the Mormon Church.

Representatives of the religious organization, whose mission is to help the Roma-Egyptian population here, Larry and Debbie Draper, handed over a pair of laptops to the Roma mediators ten days ago, as well as they do today in the EU Info – center.

Mediators will assist RE citizens in health care, social care and employment in 11 municipalities

German organization Help and the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights have awarded certificates, and Help has signed one-year employment contracts with mediators who have completed training for Roma and Egyptian (RE) social inclusion mediators in the areas of health, social protection and employment.

Frieda Wuenschmann, Human Rights Adviser at the EU Delegation in Podgorica, who has recently arrived to Montenegro and has worked in many countries in Western Balkan and therefore feels like “at home”, said that she was very pleased that the EU decided to finance this project together with the Government of Montenegro with half a million euros.

Forty-three (43) mediators have received training for health care, social care and employment, while 38 of them have received certificates and will be active in 11 Montenegrin municipalities in the next year.

“This project which is implemented by our partner NGO Help – is another demonstration of our long-term commitment to support Montenegro in the full integration of the Roma-Egyptian population. It is also important to comment on Montenegro’s efforts to include and integrate women and children of other cultures into education, the media and local institutions. This is very important for the process of accession negotiations of Montenegro. The work of Roma-Egyptian mediators is designed to ensure better communication and cooperation between the RE community and the Montenegrin authorities, and is based on the best practices that Help has developed through previous projects” Wuenschmann said.

The EU Human Rights Adviser believes that it is very important that the mediators are mostly from the RE community, because of their knowledge of language, culture and history. According to Wuenschmann, it is important that this model be applied throughout the country. The work of mediators will improve access to health care, employment and labor market programs and measures, as well as health care programs for Roma and Egyptians.

She has said that the Government and institutions should systematize jobs for mediators – in the work of local and state bodies.

Bojan Božović, Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, emphasized that the Ministry is the beneficiary institution of this project. He thanked the EU for the allocated funds, which have been complemented with funds from the Government of Montenegro.

“I want to emphasize that this project is in line with the commitment of the Government of Montenegro and the Ministry of Law and Human and Minority Rights to create and implement policy for faster and full social inclusion, as well as the improvement of the economic situation of Roma and Egyptians,” said Božović.

He has reminded us that the Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians (2021-2025) has been adopted in September, with specific tasks in each area. This strategy is in line with EU standards for Roma protection.

“Activities in it are exactly planned for greater inclusion of associates in the social inclusion of Roma and Egyptian men and women in all areas of life. I am glad that we have already reached the stage in this project, of having trained mediators for social inclusion. Your work will be very important in the communication between the RE community and our institutions, and I am sure that you will try to overcome all barriers that exist to better inform the Roma-Egyptian population about their rights, which are clearly defined by the legislative framework” Božović said.

Dijamant Pajazitaj, who is mediator at Help and already has many years of mediation experience, but also as someone who went through this certified training, has thanked the EU and the Government of Montenegro for supporting Help’s idea. He thanked the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights for their support in motivating young people from the RE population to get involved in this project and complete the training.

“My involvement in Help over the past four years has shown that, as much as our population needs us, so do the institutions. Because we haven’t been only helping our community, at the same time we had helped the institutions and made their work easier. I am especially happy that we have created a network in 11 municipalities” said Pajazitaj.

On behalf of the mediator, Nedmedin Šalja also thanked:

Project coordinator Dijana Anđelić has explained that this is a joint project of the European Union and the Government of Montenegro “Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation “, which is implemented within the program of European Union and Montenegro for employment, education and social protection.

“The goal of the project is for trained mediators in social inclusion to provide assistance to the citizens of the Roma and Egyptian population in exercising their rights in the areas of social and health care, as well as employment,” Anđelić has said.

The project is being implemented by “Help”, which will be the employer of mediators in the next year – in partnership with the municipalities of Podgorica, Ulcinj and Berane.

The contracts with mediators have been signed by Klaus Mock, the Regional Coordinator of Help, who expressed satisfaction that this institute – which Help had introduced for several years, has been recognized as important for further integration of the RE population in Montenegro, as well as that it had received the support of Montenegrin institution and the EU.

RE mediators are ready to work, the need for their engagement is greater than expected

After the successful training, Help has prepared 38 certified RE mediators for the areas of social protection, employment and health care. According to the coordinator of the project “Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation “, Dijana Andjelić, it is now and in accordance with previous experience important to ensure the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with relevant ministries as soon as possible. This is a precondition for the employment of RE mediators/associates in the social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in the units of the health system, social protection system and employment. The employment of mediators is planned in the municipalities of Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Budva, Cetinje, Herceg Novi, Niksic, Pljevlja, Podgorica, Tivat and Ulcinj for a period of 12 months.

Ms. Anđelić said that the drafts of the Memorandum were forwarded to the competent ministries, but that by the day of the meeting of the Steering Committee (Monday, September 10, 2021), Help had not yet receiveda response.

A well-organized information campaign in cooperation with representatives of Help, Roma Council, the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, the Capital City of Podgorica, the Municipalities of Ulcinj and Berane, as well as the network of RE NGO has resulted in a surprisingly high number of applicants – 83 in total, out of which 38 participated in the program and received a work certificate after completing the training.

Tatjana Anđelić, a representative of the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, pointed out that the institution had numerous praises on the account of the quality of the registered applicants, as well as the subsequent training participants.

According to Anđelić, and based on the previous practice and experience of already engaged RE mediators it was proposed to employ RE-Mediators not only in social work centers, employment offices, health centers and hospitals, but also in the Clinical Hospital Center of Montenegro, Roma Council, as well as the Capital City of Podgorica (through the local office for RE). It was emphasized that if deemed appropriate, RE mediators could also be engaged in ministries’ departments.

The representative of the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, Ramiz Šahman, spoke about the role of this project in achieving the results of the Strategy for Social Inclusion of the RE Population (2021-2025). Šahman stated that one of the key focuses during the preparation was the fight against discrimination and anti-Gypsyism – working with the majority community to eradicate these phenomenons. Šahman believes that the work of mediators will contribute to reducing the ethnic distance to the RE population, and he concluded that the project is in line with the objectives of the new strategy.

He believes that the project of social inclusion of RE men and women through mediation will contribute to reducing unemployment, thanks to the engagement of employment mediators and to ensuring the communication with the relevant institutions. Šahman pointed out that 70% of the RE population is unemployed according to recent research. Also, reducing unemployment would significantly contribute to more favorable conditions in the areas of housing, resolving legal status, social and family protection.

According to the ministry’s representatives, the low percentage of the RE population working in state institutions needs special attention. Only 10% of all RE employees work in state institutions, and therefore efforts should be made to improve this. According to available data, 61% of the RE population is employed in the informal sector, while the EU insists that they need to be integrated into the formal sector, and as Šahman has said, mediators can contribute to this.

Šahman supported the idea of engaging mediators in other institutions (Roma Council, Capital City of Podgorica), and to that end suggested the engagement of RE mediators in the Day Center “Defendologija” Niksic and in the Institute for Social and Child Protection of Montenegro.

When asked by the representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development whether the ministries will be obliged to provide permanent employment for mediators after the expiration of the contract with Help, Tatjana Anđelić, the representative of the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, clarified that it will not be the responsibility of ministries, but that it would certainly be good for all ministries to consider institutionalizing these jobs in municipalities where possible.Namely, European Commission, emphasizied the importance of hiring RE mediators to guarantee the sustainablity of the project. However, this will not be possible in all municipalitie.

Anđelić has further clarified that the salaries of mediators, as well as computers, will be provided by the project, but that it would be the obligation of the institutions to provide a physical workplace for mediators, so they can perform their work in the institutions and in cooperation with the employees.

Nina Milović, a representative of the Ministry of Health, has given her thanks for recognizing the contribution of the Ministry in the System of Social Inclusion of the RE-population, and pointed out that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the burden on the health system on the one hand, but also due to delays in budgeting on the other, the ministry could not provide for the institutionalization of more than one mediator position in the action plan 2021. She also stated that immediately after receiving the draft memorandum of cooperation, she would hold the necessary consultations and inform the Help representatives. The action plan determined an adaptation of the respective act to allow for hiring mediators, but budget planning and provision of funds for financing these positions remain a challenge. Milović believes that the mediators hired by Help for a period of 12 months will mean a lot for the work of the ministry and the Health Centers. She expressed the readiness of everyone to commit and do everything to achieve the goal in an adequate way.

The representative of the Roma Council, Ana Popović, thanked Help for recognizing the Council as a body within which at least two mediators could be engaged. She pointed out the problem of educating RE children, and the provision of support for 47 RE children who did not go to school, and for whom extra classes where provided in cooperation with the elementary school “Marko Miljanov”. However, as the school has only one education mediator, the Roma Council should provide support in the area of easier communication and coordination of children during classes. In this way, and in cooperation with the elementary school “Marko Miljanov”, the Roma Council will ensure the smooth implementation of the program for acquiring primary education for RE children who have not previously attended primary school. This represents an important bridge for the children to continue regular schooling. The program lasts for 4 months and after that children can continue their education in the appropriate classes, depending on their age. The provision of an additional mediator would siginificantly suport the program (monitor attendance regularity and to help with language/communication).

Representatives of Help, as well as the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, believe that this support to the Roma Council would be extremely important and belong to the domain of social protection. Ms. Tatjana Andjelić suggested that the contracting authority, the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro – The Directorate for Finance and Contracting of the EU Assistance Funds, be consulted about the engagement of RE mediators within the Roma Council.

Representatives of the Capital City of Podgorica and the Municipality of Ulcinj, who are partners in this program financed by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro – The Directorate for Finance and Contracting of the EU Assistance Funds, also attended the meeting of the Steering Commitee for the project „Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation“ which is financed by the Ministry of Finance – The Directorate for Finance and Contracting of the EU Assistance Funds (CFCU).

The next step and focus is on hiring the trained mediators.

Help mediators will soon be helping the RE population in 11 municipalities

20.08. 2021

Ermina Tafa, from Herceg Novi, is one of the participants in the training for mediators that was held at the High School „Slobodan Škerović” in Podgorica. For the past two months, she has been attending classes regularly and has finally passed the vocational exam as mediator for social inclusion, with focus on social protection and employment of the Roma-Egyptian (RE) population in Montenegro.

The training for mediators had started at the beginning of July in the Slobodan Škerović High School in Podgorica.

The mediator training was attended by a total of 30 participants, who received professional knowledge in this certified educational institution in a period of two months. The participants will then have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in practice, by helping citizens of the RE population in 11 municipalities across Montenegro. At the beginning of the week, 27 participants have taken the exam.

This is Help’s project “Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation” for which funds were provided by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro – Directorate for Finance and Contracting of EU Assistance Funds (CFCU). The project is co-financed by European Union and the Government of Montenegro.

Partners of Help in this project are the Roma Council, the Capital Podgorica and the municipalities of Ulcinj and Berane.

“The training is very effective and we have socialized very well during its course, we had good communication with professors and each other, and I really liked it, I am very satisfied. We learned a lot that will be useful in our future work. I had some basic prior knowledge but we learned many more new things. The lecturers have really brought us closer to our future work. ”

Although Ermina is more or less familiar with the problems that her community is facing, according to her, she can now recognize and understand the problems of the beneficiaries much better.

“Thanks to the training, we can better understand the beneficiaries, their problems and what is going on in our community – we learned and talked about all this in detail during the training, as well as about the most important methods with which we can help people to better exercise their rights “.

Ermina Tafa has passed the training as a mediator in social inclusion in the areas of social protection and employment.

“I decided to choose these areas because there are a lot of cases in our community that are in need for assistance as well as employment. This is actually a key problem of our community. You have a lot of unemployed youth, among other things, because of discrimination. I hope that I will have the opportunity to approach them and help them. ”

In the municipality of Herceg Novi, where she comes from, most of the Roma population is employed either in a public utility company or in similar public institutions. As she says, private businesses are usually not interested in employing people from the Roma-Egyptian population.

“That is the discrimination that I’m talking about, but we’re working to change that. Private companies now lack manpower, and in the season they employ both Roma and Egyptians. In winter, however, finding a job here is a real problem. Also, in Herceg Novi, there is a large number of social assistance beneficiaries from the RE population, which is why I opted for this mediator training. ”

Mihalea Čadjenović is a member of, as one can say, the majority population, but she was enthusiastic to join this project as a committed civil activist, which supports the inclusion of one of the most vulnerable categories in Montenegrin society, the Roma-Egyptian population.

“To me, this project really seems like something that is successful and something that has shown that Montenegro is a civic, multiethnic state and that we care about everyone, in the sense that we are working on inclusion with full attention. And I think that Help is contributing significantly to improving the situation of this community. Here I am as someone who comes, as they would say, from the majority population, and I could feel during this training just how important belonging and synergy is.”

Mihaela has been commited to activism and human rights ever since and so it was no question for her to join the training for Roma mediators.

“Through activism, I have always tried to contribute to improving the conditions of all groups that are on the margins of society for example women who are victims of violence, or women who want to develop their independent business. It is very important to intra-connect society and establish a balance in which everyone will live with equal chances. As a free, civil, and multiethnic society, we must strive to ensure that everyone has equal access to the rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Mihaela states that it is generally known that the RE population in Montenegro is unjustifiably on the margins and our aspiration is that this community, like all others, has equal access to institutions, and all services provided by society.

“I decided to choose mediation in social protection and employment because, thanks to my previous activism, I already have experience in working with these institutions and I honestly think that I was quite successful in cooperating with them. I was trained as a mediator in education in the past and this was an opportunity to formalize the mediating role in this area, which is also a very important segment when it comes to helping vulnerable population groups. You know that unemployment has never been higher and presents a key problem of the RE community, just like access to social protection.”

Mihaela Čadjenović knows the Albanian language and not Romani, but she is quite sure that this will not be a problem in her future provision of services and with helping the beneficiaries of the RE population.

“There are other colleagues who will surely help me, just as I will help them, in performing future obligations and communication with the RE population. The most important thing for me is to do my best to solve people’s problems, and I believe that I can do that.”

Training for health mediators is underway for another 19 participants

Goran Marinković from Bar is an 18-year-old with a high school economics degree and is currently still in training for health mediators. He travels to Podgorica every day and is very pleased to have been given the opportunity to learn how to be useful to his community in the best possible way.

“The training is going very well; we have a good opportunity to learn how to be useful to our community. The situation in Bar is very bad in that area, primarily because the community is not doing well in addressing health institutions. That is why I think that as a health mediator, I can help the RE citizens of Bar exercise their basic and guaranteed rights easier and faster”, said Goran.

Merljinda Beriša from Nikšić is also hoping to be a health mediator – and she is currently in training after which she will take the exam to obtain the certificate ‘health care mediator’.

“I really like the training; we have the opportunity to learn a lot and I am very glad that I applied for this program. After taking the exam, I expect to start working as a health mediator.”

Merljinda says that her motive for applying for training as a health mediator was that she knows that many members of the RE population in Nikšić do not have all the necessary papers or do not know how to obtain them to ensure their access to health care.

“I noticed that people are often helpless and therefore hesitate to go to the doctor. If all this ends as planned and I am accepted, I could help them realize these rights much easier than before. In fact, I am ready to help the community with everything it needs.”

The biggest inspiration for this young 19-year-old from Nikšić is her sister Denisona, who has been Help’s mediator in their hometown for a couple of years, and intensively and successfully helps the RE population to exercise their basic rights, which are often unavailable to them for various reasons.

“She does it successfully and I see that she has a lot of work to do, people constantly turn to her and she manages to help them exercise their rights more easily. It inspires me and that’s why I think I could help people.”

Upon completion of the training, participants take an exam and receive certificates of the acquired professional knowledge. The best of them will then be employed through Help in the next year and will provide assistance to citizens of the RE population in exercising basic rights and daily services in the field of health, employment and social care.

In each of the 11 municipalities involved in this project, in which we also cooperate with the Ministry of Justice and Human and Minority Rights, at least three mediators will be employed.

Help, as an organization that since the beginning of its work two decades ago in Montenegro has been continuously helping the development and socialization of the Roma-Egyptian population and their active inclusion in society and practical realization of basic social and economic rights, has been intensively developing the institute of mediators. The institute has proven to be a very effective mean of bridging several barriers, such as the language barrier, and with this to support the provision of basic services at the local level for this vulnerable and marginalized community.

For several years now, Help has had its three mediators in Podgorica and Nikšić, who daily provide mediation assistance to the citizens of the RE population.

Montenegro has previously successfully introduced the role of RE mediators in health care in Podgorica, as well as the role of mediators in employment, health care and social protection through pilot projects in three municipalities.

The goal is to permanently apply this model in all municipalities with Roma-Egyptian population, since numerous reports have found that “marginalized Roma face limited access to almost all aspects of development, such as basic rights, health, education, housing, employment and decent living standards”.

The total value of this project, which is expected to last 18 months, is 500,382 Euro.

The reconstruction of the pig farm in the prison complex has begun

3.08. 2021

The reconstruction and rehabilitation of the facilities on the pig farm within the prison complex in Spuž has begun.

This is a project that Help is supporting with the financial support of the German government within the project “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans “.

This is a continuation of Help’s successful cooperation with the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (UIKS), during which we assisted them in the programs of rehabilitation and resocialization of prisoners, as well as with the renewal of various work units that the prison in Spuž consists of.

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of facilities for pig farms in the prison complex will be performed by the company Entext engineering in the next five months.

The value of the works is 78.769,43 Euro.

In addition to the reconstruction of the pig farm within the project “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans SOE-5” Help will support UIKS with the renewal of a set of machines – for steel wire knitting and with a program for the rehabilitation of prisoners.

A six-month on-the-job training is underway as well within the same project, Help’s successful model of connecting the unemployed and employers, especially for deficit occupations, with a special focus on northern Montenegro which is the least developed part of the country, where unemployment is also highest.

Within that part of the program, a special certified training is planned for a part of the unemployed beneficiaries, after which those who have successfully passed it will receive a certificate of acquired knowledge and skills.

Trainings for mediators in social inclusion of the RE population are underway

20.07.2021

At the beginning of July, training for mediators / mediators in social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians (RE) for social care and employment began at the “Slobodan Škerović” High School in Podgorica.

Training for these two areas is attended by 30 participants, who will during a month and a half gain expertise in this certified educational institution; after completion of their trainings the best of them will be employed by Help and placed in the respective institutions where they apply the knowledge in practice, helping members of the RE population in 11 municipalities across Montenegro in the field of obtaining basic rights and daily services in the field of health, employment and social care.

In addition to social care and employment, 19 more participants will start training for health mediators at the end of this week.

This is Help’s project “Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation” that is financed by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro – Directorate for Finance and Contracting of EU Assistance Funds (CFCU), within the program co-finance by European Union and Government of Montenegro.

Help’s partners on this project are the Capital city Podgorica and the municipalities of Ulcinj and Berane while the Roma Council actively supports the implementation.

Upon completion of the training, participants will take an exam and receive certificates of acquired professional knowledge.

It is planned that in each of the 11 municipalities covered by this project, in which we also cooperate with the Ministry of Justice and Human and Minority Rights, three mediators will be employed.

Help, as an organization that since the beginning of its work in Montenegro, more than two decades ago, has been continuously helping the development and integration of the Roma-Egyptian population and their active inclusion in society and practical realization of basic social and economic rights, has been intensively developing the institute of mediators, which has proven to be a very effective means in surmounting a number of barriers, like language for example, in providing basic services at the local level for this vulnerable and marginalized community.

For several years now, Help has had three mediators in Podgorica and Nikšić, who on a daily basis provide mediation assistance to the citizens of the RE population in all three mentioned areas.

Montenegro has previously successfully systematized the role of RE mediators in health care in Podgorica, as well as the role of mediators in employment, health care and social protection through Help’s projects in three municipalities.

Now the goal is to permanently apply this model in all municipalities with Roma-Egyptian population, since numerous reports have found that “marginalized Roma face limited access to almost all aspects of development, such as basic rights, health, education, housing, employment and living standards.”

The realization of the project, i.e. the training of participants for “Social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians through mediation ” was supposed to start in March, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and measures against COVID-19, the training in Podgorica was delayed and started only in early July.

More than 80 candidates from all over Montenegro applied for the competition for mediators in all three areas, after which the commission selected about 60 participants.

The total value of the project, which is expected to last for 18 months, is 500,382 Euro.

On-the-job training for 20 unemployed, Help mediator between them and employers

19. 07. 2021

A total of 20 unemployed Montenegrin citizens were given the opportunity to train in the next six months to work for private employers in various fields from IT (information technology), through tourism, other various services, management jobs, to deficient craft jobs.

As part of the follow-up of the previous a new project “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans” (February 2021 – December 2022) funded by the German Government, Help continued with the proved successful model of connecting and networking unemployed and employers for various deficient occupations predominantly in the north of Montenegro (60 percent): Berane, Pljevlja, Rozaje and Bijelo Polje, but also in other cities (40 percent). Thus, 12 unemployed people from the north and eight in other cities were hired for on-the-job training.

During the six-month training, the unemployed will receive vocational training from various deficient occupations that are needed in the labor market, while 15 of them (the same ratio of 60 percent north, 40 percent the rest) will receive special training and they will receive a certificate of the acquired skills.

Employers, on the other hand, will be motivated to keep workers, if they successfully complete the training, for a minimum of 12 months, by supporting them by providing the equipment necessary to expand their business.

As before, Help is a mediator in networking employers and the unemployed. That the model is successful has been confirmed by the fact that this time the employers with whom we cooperated on previous projects applied, such as the driving school “Victoria” or the furniture factory “Arte Home” from Berane, with which we are successfully cooperating for the third time. The previous unemployed who were trained with them are now their permanent employees.

The training started on July 1 and will last until the end of 2021. The unemployed will be supported with 250 Euro during the six-month training to cover the costs during the training.

The overall goal of the regional project “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans” is to revitalize the economy of the Western Balkans and in addition to supporting the reduction of unemployment and strengthening vulnerable groups, the project envisages continued assistance to Montenegro several programs: infrastructure project – assistance for the reconstruction of a pig farm, provision of a line for production/knitting of steel mesh, as well as professional training of prisoners, who will have significantly better chances for employment and socialization thanks to post-release training.

The goal of the program is to create mechanisms and networks for the empowerment of marginalized groups and their inclusion in society, including recovery from the consequences of measures introduced due to COVID-19.

The total value of the project for Montenegro is 505,600 Euro.

Apart from Montenegro, the socio-economic empowerment project is being implemented in Albania, BiH, Kosovo and Serbia. The German government has set aside a total of 3.35 million euros for this program, which will be completed by the end of 2022.

Students of the school “Vaso Aligrudić” showed knowledge, talent and self-confidence

Source: ICT Cortex

14. 06. 2021

The first ICT cluster education project was successfully completed, which aimed to prepare students for an increasingly challenging labor market and further academic development through an interdisciplinary approach to learning and practical work in companies.

The first ICT cluster education project ended with the presentation of the final solutions of the practical teaching project implemented by ICT Cortex, in cooperation with the Electrical Engineering School (ETŠ) “Vaso Aligrudić”. The first place went to the team from Coinis, the second place went to the team from Data Design, and the third place went to the team from Bild Studio. The best team won the Arduino robotics package.

Jovan Popović was named the best student of practical classes, who was awarded a course at the Logate Academy. He thanked the professors for their understanding, the mentors for their great help and the winning team, of which he is a member, for their great support.

“I am glad that our efforts paid off and we hope that it will be like this next year as well. I plan to deal with programming in the future “, said Popović.

The mentor of the winning team, Nikola Kadić, said that he had a beautiful task with his colleague Stevan Čakić and said that he was grateful for the opportunity given to him.

“We enjoyed the work and development of the project. The children showed tremendous talent. There were no problems to complete such a serious project. We are proud of them and I want to praise them all. I am glad to have been a part of this organization,” Kadić said. In addition to mentors from the company Coinis, mentors from the company Data Design – Marija Kuveljić and Zoran Mastilović, were also awarded for the best mentoring work during the practical classes.

The assistant director at the Vaso Aligrudić Electrical Engineering School, Danka Markuš, pointed out that she was proud of all seven teams that, despite their regular school obligations, managed to do what the company demanded of them.

“Imagine when they are already working with the most modern technologies and tools that developers in companies work with. Their knowledge is great, and their self-confidence is even greater, and that makes us very happy “, said Markuš.

The head of the Department for Research and Development of Qualifications at the Center for Vocational Education, Sandra Brkanović, said that the project of practical training is a great example of good practice in Montenegro.

“This is one of the best examples of good practice, especially in the field of information technology. Involving and connecting the economy, teachers and students is something that is great and very important for the future of programming in Montenegro”, said Brkanović.

ICT Cortex Education Manager Valentina Beg Deljanin believes that the greatest value of the project is the synergy of economy and education, and students who gained theoretical knowledge through schooling had the opportunity to see its concrete application and to be further motivated for programming, which means that the job market, perhaps, will already have people next year who will contribute to the IT industry growing and thriving.

“Of course, the students are suggested to continue their education, but they are already ready to program the information system themselves. For some students, at the beginning, everything was abstract, foreign, but when they started to create something concrete, they saw that it was forming in front of them, that it was working. They have already become people who are quite good at terminology, they manage everything, they explain to each other what it is about, they are more motivated to make additional efforts at school “, said Beg Deljanin.

One of the members of the jury, Marko Lekić, said that they were surprised by the result and that serious work was needed to achieve aim.

“We see a lot of future colleagues. We are very glad. I hope that this will mean a lot to the students, who we will hopefully watch later at the faculty and will be our colleagues. For us, as an industry, such events mean a lot and we will try to implementing this to other schools and cities”, said Lekić.

Seven weeks ago, ICT Cortex – a cluster for information technology, innovation, education, design and technological development of Montenegro and ETŠ “Vaso Aligrudić” launched a project of practical classes for third grade students of the educational program “Electrician for web and mobile applications”. The project was attended by the first generation of students working by a new educational program in the development in which had been participated prominent university professors, teachers of secondary vocational schools, but also IT experts from ICT Cortex.

The project of practical work was realized in seven companies of the cluster (Alicorn, Amplitudo, Bild Studio, Coinis, Data Design, Logate, Oykos development) and was conceived on solving a specific task – creating an online school library.

The entire project of practical classes was completed with workshops that helped students to build and develop not only technical knowledge but also presentations skills.

Students presented the completed solutions to an expert jury consisting of: Tarik Zaimović, ICT Cortex; Saša Adžic, Telekom; Marko Lekić, Fleka; Mihailo Obradović, Codeus; Marko Vučurović, Codingo; Sandra Brkanović, Center for Vocational Education;

For all students who completed the project task in version 3, and some teams reached the advanced version 5 Cortex has prepared a special Learning package that allows them to apply for a scholarship from the ICT Cortex Foundation at the desired faculty in the field of IT next year.

The organizing team of ICT Cortex expressed special gratitude to the partners of the event who contributed to the great realization of the project and showed that the synergy effect contributes to the development of the education system: Crnogorski Telekom, Help Montenegro, Logate Academy, HBC Coca-Cola Montenegro, as well as partners Duka Hosting, Balance2Business and NGO 35mm.

As announced by ICT Cortex, this is only the first project in the field of education, and from the fall they are launching a large education program that will contribute to the acquisition of practical knowledge needed for employment and re-training.

Here on the link you can find all presentations and awards for the best: https://www.facebook.com/ictcortex/videos/195174965840218

RECONOMY is a regional inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with Help—Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, and the Western Balkans.

ICT Cortex and the “Vaso Aligrudić” school are investing in the future of Montenegro

11. 06. 2020

The ICT Cortex cluster has offered the best model so far that connects education and the economy in Montenegro. Within the project “Reconomy” supported by the Government of Sweden, which Help implements in cooperation with Helvetas (Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation), ICT Cortex has launched an internship for 28 students of III grade of the Secondary Electrical Engineering School “Vaso Aligrudić” thanks to which these young future IT experts have the opportunity to get acquainted with the most modern technological programs and practice on the most modern IT tools.

Valentina Beg Deljanin, chief officer for the Education Sector at ICT Cortex, explained to us:

“Students in practice here work in laravel to prepare a prototype of an online library and database, they are actually doing a ‘backend ’part for that application in laravel. And laravel is something that is in high demand in the market, it is the ‘php framework’ and it has added value to everything. We divided this task into seven interactions according to agile methodology and put them on the software ‘jira’ – it is software used in agile methodology for task planning and scrum medotology”, says Beg Deljanin, adding:

“They got seven sprints and that interaction – these are the stages of the task and what they have to do in seven weeks is divided into stages. All teams follow that, and depending on the individuals, students and mentors, who are more or less all great, they will eventually present what they do and show how much have been worked, knew and learned. What they already knew they reinforced, and what they did not know they learned and it is very interesting to watch. It’s a parallel process, I followed them all from the beginning and then I watch different teams rush on different things, slow down on some others. It can potentially happen that all applications, if they all do it perfectly, are completely equal “, states our host.

The task should be completed within seven weeks from April 29 to June 12. On Sunday, June 13, there will be a presentation of the completed solutions. According to Beg Deljanin, they prepared prizes for the students because they divided the task by versions and by difficulty.

“We go from higher to lower – version one is the easiest, version five is the most complex part, and we expect everyone to finish by version three, which is pretty good in such a short time, and for the best team we predicted to get an Arduino pack for robotics. Also, everyone who manages to complete version three will receive another learning package – which is a package of courses, which they can then continue to learn and when they successfully complete, it is the first phase”.

The ICT Cortex cluster has plans to run a second phase for the mobile app next year, as this is a web app.

“Upon completion of the next internship, as well as upon completion of high school and learning packages, they will be given the opportunity to receive a scholarship from the Cortex Foundation to enroll in one of the Montenegrin universities in the field of IT,” Ms. Bed Deljanin has promised.

According to Beg Deljanin, the selection of candidates was done in cooperation with the professors of the High School “Vaso Aligrudić”, because it is now part of their formal teaching and mandatory curriculum.

“Practical classes were introduced as a compulsory part of school classes, and then we, in cooperation with the professors, gave the students a small introductory course as an additional one – outside their regular obligations, which prepared them for what they will do now. We relied on professors for the selection, because we want to show that this synergy of education and economy can produce quality staff and that this is the missing link in the market. Because a deficit of trained labor has been noticed for a long time”.

Valentina Bed Deljanin says that as far as young people are concerned, there is no lack of interest in this sector to get involved in such and similar projects. These students showed motivation and before coming to the companies, they already learned a lot on their own, apart from the school program and literature, which shows a much greater interest than just a brief basic knowledge.

“This pilot project is being done with the Secondary Electrical Engineering School ‘Vaso Aligrudić’, but we hope that we will be able to expand this to other vocational schools – the plan is, for example, Nikšić, Bijelo Polje, Budva, etc.”

With the head of the education department at ICT Cortex, we visited three of their seven company companies: Alicorn, doMEn and Coins, where we also talked to the students in practice, their professors and mentors on this project.

Vasilije Božarić was happy to practically show us how their work looks like. He is convinced that the fifth version will be reached in the creation of the application for the web online library, although expectations are that everyone will reach the third, which is also considered a very good success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jzgRuoDVjU

“The problem is that in a school, no matter how new the program is and no matter how good the teachers are, an operating plan that is a year, two or a little older must be followed, and here, in this way, we can follow newest technologies. When we follow the latest one, then we can get to the all new ones that coming out every day. ”

“Compared to other schools and faculties, we are quite advanced, I can even say one of the most advanced, but the biggest problem is that the school cannot assign some complex programming languages for first and second grade students. So they give us a good foundation, but also knowlege that we can build up later. However, the most important thing is to get a basis from which we can learn other programming languages and other technologies. ”

Vasilije’s ambitions for the future are, as he says, is probably to be a programmer, even though he is also interested in engineering. He received a scholarship for the 4th grade in the USA and he hopes to get a scholarship for the faculty there as well, and then, he is convinced, he will also work with software engineering. Vasilije wants to stay and live in America.

A student of the four-members group in Alicorn is also Balša Maraš, who would also like to receive a scholarship for abroad and would also, he does not hide, if the opportunity presented itself, stay there.

Unlike Vasilije, Balša did not know from the beging what exactly he wanted to enroll. He says that his ambition was to be a car mechanic, like his father, because his dad was his idol as a boy, so he entered in the IT world more by accident. At first, he actually enrolled in electronics, but when he realized what this direction offers him and what paths it opens for him, he decided to switch on the program development of web and mobile applications.

“In the future, I see myself sitting at a computer and typing codes. Honestly, I would also like to start something myself. We’ll see!”

Their professor from the “Vaso Aligrudić” High School, Marina Braletić, the coordinator for education and one of the authors of the curriculum that enabled them to do this practice, says that from the start, when they started writing a new curriculum, they had the idea to involve the economy as much as possible in education process.

“This is an extremely good opportunity to move from the deadlock that we have, when it comes to synergies between education and the economy, and not only in this sector. Because I really think that in recent years, as our ad said, ‘professional is the key’ (stručno-ključno) and that the vocation is a little more prevail than in previous years. I would say that in the period of a little more than ten years, the Gymnasium always prevailed as a favored choice for high school education” says professor Braletić.

“As for as students are concerned, I must point out, since this is the first generation that is being educated according to this program, they were ready to welcome this practice and cooperation with the IT economy.” When they enrolled in this educational program (three years ago, they are now in the third grade), the students were not just attending regular classes. A large number of workshops were also organized in our school and there was a great interest (two classes that are involved in the implementation of practical classes), so they were quite ready for this serious task. ”

Professor Braletić is particularly pleased with the seriousness with which ICT Cortex has explored the advantages and disadvantages of the school curriculum.

“What is very commendable and I take this opportunity to say, is precisely the organization by ICT Cotex. They entered the educational program in detail and carefully – because neither we nor they wanted this to be a form. We didn’t want this to be done pro-form but essentially. They are the first generation and now that they are on the third year, and I can say that we were satisfied because a large number of excellent students enrolled at that time and that there was great interest in this direction. For the first time, two scholl class were enrolled, and now we are already enrolling three scholl class for the section”.

“In the educational program itself, there is a certain number of practical classes, a minimum of 36 per year, but we cared and we designed, actually, ICT Cortex designed the practice as a concrete work, which is a special challenge for students. Vasilije is the best example of that, because he is persistent, from the very beginning, and sure that they will realize all five versions, although our expectations are, and we are quite satisfied with them to reach third version, because it is a fantastic result “.

Professor Marina Braletić believes that this successful project can be applied to the entire territory of Montenegro.

“I sincerely hope that we will be a good example and that this practice will be applied in other schools in Montenegro where the new educational program is being implemented. Fpr now we don’t talk about for a big number. Most companies are in Podgorica, but I am quite sure that, in cooperation with ICT Cortex, it can be organized anywhere in Montenegro, or any other city.

The greatest interest for elementary school students when they enrolling in high schools is for this intercept- the development of web and mobile applications in their school, and that, says Braletić, is really good and not a surprise.

“It is quite clear that this is a sector that is advancing and developing at a tremendous rate, and information about the large number of needed staff in the sector is constantly available to them. It is a special pleasure that excellent students are applying to us and I believe that this will continue. ”

When it comes to other areas, the school tries to organize as many workshops as possible for other students who are interested in programming, where, as they say, “wonderful projects” are developed. Although it does not exist in the educational program – robotics is one of the segments where their students are very successful.

“They made drones, they made robots, they go to various competitions, they almost always win some of the awards. So that both electrical technicians and electronics technicians have the opportunity, through workshops, to be educated in the field of programming “, the professor proudly points out.

Petar Jovanović, one of the mentors who works directly with the group on developing the online library web application is very satisfied because the group is “progressing very well”. Everything is done and achieved according to the plan and program, as it was planned from the very beginning. As he says, they have never had major problems, which they could not solve on the spot or with some small help.

“Overall, this team is doing well, they have shown effort, they have shown a desire to learn things and I think that the results themselves showing that. I believe that we will be able to complete the entire project that was designed at the presentation, and it seems to me that this group will have great success, not only now, but also in the future if they continue to work like this,” says Jovanović.

In the company-school Coins, we were joined by Danka Markuš, assistant director of the Secondary Electrical Engineering School “Vaso Aligrudić” and, as she preferred to call itself -their professor, which she is especially proud of.

“Students who attend an internship provided by ICT Cortex are the first generation to be provided with such a program and are educated according to the new curriculum. These programs are based on outcomes and key competencies. It was this new educational program that enabled them to have an obligatory internship with their employer. From my experience, as a school administration and as a teacher, I can tell you that this is the first serious and organized practice at the level of Montenegr. Here we have a systematic plan and we know before we send students to employers, what they will do from the day one – until the seventh week – as well as what will be the result. We are doing our best, both at the level of high schools and the entire economy, to provide them with functional and practical knowledge. They are currently working with the tools used by the company’s employees, and they are in the third grade of high school. ”

As Markuš says, the students themselves may not even be aware at this moment of how important this is for them – “they look at it from the point that it is interesting to them and follows their lifestyle”.

And actually, big stake is their future.

“These are the generations that separate one click from accurate information. How important this is for them, I will only tell you that every student who follows the recommendations and tasks from ICT Cortex will be able to get free education, not to mention employment, because it goes hand in hand. Then it is clear how important it is for high school students, to measure their knowledge and know more clearly how helpful is for them. I am very glad that our students can meet the most promising business community, see who the developers are and have a clear idea of their future. ”

In seven groups distributed in practice in the cluster, ie. ICT Cortex companies, has four members each, of which, as professor Markuš told us, six are girls -high school students.

Tatjana Bečić is one of them and says that she became interested in this, because it offered something new that the classical school did not offer before.

She believes that her future lies in this profession.

Jovan Popović graduated from primary school as a ‘light bearer’ (Luča- award for the best students) – so with the best grades, today he clearly knows that he wants to be a programmer. He says that as soon as he became a little interested, he “fell in love” with this job.

His group and classmate Petar Jovanović (same name as a mentor) says:

“The practice helps us to have an insight into the world of programmers and how professionals do it. And all the projects we’ve worked on before this – whether it’s a competition or an internship, it was mostly not professional, not like this. Here we have specific tasks and we use specific software and we learn to use professional tools as well”.

And this group says that although the mentor and professors expect them to achieve version three, their intention is to achieve version five by the deadline.

Their mentor Stevan Čakčić, a lecturer at UDG University, also hopes that this, as he says, very successful model – which extremely motivates children and opens the opportunity for them to acquire serious knowledge, will continue to be applied regularly and extended to other schools in Montenegro.

“Here, these children have the opportunity to learn the most modern and up-to-date technologies, so they learn something that will benefit them, unlike before where everything was only in the area of theory. Everything they will learn here through this project will be able to practically applied tomorrow. This project itself is serious and complex, and they have shown great interest and desire to do it to the end. This is a rather challenging and the good quality project, and they have the necessary prior knowledge that was more theoretical, and now it is the opportunity to develop it practically. ”

Assistant director of the High School “Vaso Aligrudić”, Danka Markuš says that finally it is an opportunity that, instead of students going abroad to gain good knowledge and education, now can achieve and get the same quality here.

“We are now trying to overcome this previous discrepancy between the education system and the needs of the economy with this method, and we are trying to provide children with practical knowledge through this kind of practice.” We also hope that this generation will not stop at what the school has provided them, but that the state and the system through further education, when they enroll in studies, will enable them to be one step close towards their safe future.

German Government continues supporting the economic empowerment of the Western Balkans

German non-governmental organisation Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe (missions to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia) is informing the public on the release of the 3.35 million Euros worth German-supported programme “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans”

Western Balkans, 28 May 2021 – The German non-governmental organisation Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe is implementi a 3,35 million Euros, German-supported programme “Socio-economic empowerment of the Western Balkans” to enhance the socio-economic stability of the region in 2021 until the end of December 2022.

The programme objective is to create mechanisms and networks for the empowerment of marginalised groups including COVID-19 recovery measures and thus facilitate their inclusion and social prosperity.

The focus of the activities, in all Western Balkans countries, is on the job-creation through the establishment of new businesses and provision of support to the existing ones affected by the COVID-19. The assistance will be provided to socially vulnerable groups, women, youth, people with disabilities, prisoners, and local communities, through economic empowerment involving the building of personal and professional skills.

By the end of the project, it is expected that in the Western Balkans, Help will have supported at least 470 small scale businesses. At least 900 people will have increased their personal and professional skills. The penitentiary support to 18 prisons and at least 15 local initiatives completed, and a social platform fully operational on the regional level.

Timo Stegelmann, Help Deputy Managing Director:

“Following the principle of “Help towards self-reliance”, Help supports the efforts of low-income families, women, youth, prisoners, and former prisoners, people with disabilities to improve their living conditions through their own means and for the long-term to strengthen the resilience of communities.”

Montenegro

In Montenegro, the project will facilitate access to the labor market for vulnerable, young people and women, with on-the-job training in private companies and firms to help them gain knowledge, qualifications and skills attractive at the labor market. It is expected to have at least 40 unemployed, to perform a six-month on-the-job training, out of which at least 15 will have a certified three-month vocational training. The employers will be supported with the provision of necessary equipment for the expansion of their businesses. The prison support to the facility in Spuz through equipment and training will also be provided.

Klaus Mock, Regional coordinator of Help:

“I am glad that we will be able to continue our support for vulnerable population groups in Montenegro through activities that will strengthen the economic capacities of women and youth. Support for income generation activities have proven to show the best results when aiming to improve living conditions of vulnerable groups. Equally great results have been achieved through our support to the Institute for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions in Spuz and I am looking forward to cooperate also within this project with this institution. As in the past the UIKS makes a considerable financial contribution for our joint activities there what I greatly appreciate. The support of the German Embassy for our activities is crucial and I would like to use this opportunity to express Help’s thankfulness for their and the German government’s support”

Albania

At least 45 beneficiaries will be supported with in-kind grants including the business and vocational training, as well as the 20 micro-farmers through equipment and capacity building. At least 30 unemployed young people will have gained their professional skills and competencies to facilitate their labor market access through on-the-job training. For the improvement of the local communities, one kindergarten will be renovated enabling safe conditions for at least 90 children.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The project in Bosnia will cover eight municipalities with at least 150 small businesses and 100 people having their professional performances improved, including the measures for alleviation of COVID-19 impact to local economies. Eight local communities will be strengthened, two prisons supported and at least 20 former prisoners empowered towards self-reliance.

Kosovo

In Kosovo, at least 160 empowered small businesses will be supported with in-kind grants and at least 190 attendees to business and professional training to increase their capacities as well as to facilitate labor market access. Three prisons will be supported within the resocialization component. As for the local communities’ improvement, at least four kindergartens will be supported to create a stimulating environment. In addition, previously established local structures will be utilized in synergetic action for a common good to produce and set up outdoor trash bins installed in the capital of Kosovo, Prishtina.

Serbia

In Serbia, it is expected to have at least 80 small businesses generating sufficient income, in addition to 25 vulnerable people (women and people with disabilities) and at least 10 former prisoners. The penitentiary treatment programmes improved in 12 prisons. As for capacity building at least 400 people will have attended advanced business, professional and specialised training sessions. Social platform placed as a collaborative network of relevant stakeholders and socially vulnerable groups making the most effective use of existing resources and potentials towards sustainable development.

We supported the first producer of whipped cream, hot chocolate and powdered sugar in Montenegro

20.05. 2021

Srđan Nedović, was born in 1978 in Gjakova, has lived and worked in Berane ever since he came as a displaced person in 1999 and he is the father of two children. Since 2014 he is the owner of the small producing line DOO N.N.V., a company for the production and sale of whipped cream, hot chocolate and powdered sugar. Srđan received a packaging machine that satisfies a larger number of customers and retailers; he expanded his sales network (smaller packages are increasingly in demand on the market) and plans to expand his product range with the production and packaging of ice cream powder.

Mr. Nedović is a beneficiary of Help’s project “Strengthening the Individual Economic Capacities of Displaced Persons in Berane” funded by the US Government through the US Embassy in Podgorica – from the Julia Taft Fund.

“Worth to note, I am the only producer of these products in Montenegro. I produce whipped cream, hot chocolate, I make ice cream powder, ice cream base – all of these are products that Montenegro imports from Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo and others in the region”, says Nedović, for whom this is not the first time to be a Help beneficiary.

The goal is to contribute and to improve the inclusion of displaced persons in social and economic life, i.e. to improve the lives of displaced and internally displaced persons in the municipality of Berane, where one of the largest groups of internally displaced persons from Kosovo in Montenegro is concentrated.

“Help met my needs from the very beginning, not only for the machines, but literally Help raised me to my feet, so to speak. As a resettled person, Help supported me even earlier when it comes to the housing issue, and now again. Now you have helped me to improve my business because I had inappropriate packaging for very high quality products with which I could not get access to the supermarkets, but they rejected me precisely because of the bad packaging and I did not have the funds to buy that machine. Help was there once again and now I have a machine that meets the standards of large Franca-type supermarket chains. Now my products can be found in Franca, and I hope soon in Voli (large chain of supermarkets) and Laković HDL (the same) “.

The machine provided by Help actually it is for the packaging of products in bags with a quality protective foil, which is required by European standards and the HASAP system. Nedović says that the machine is extremely important to him, but also that he has need for another machine to fully frame the production process, but that the most important thing is to have a quality product, which is a condition for a good sale of products on the market.

“When Splendid (five stars’ hotel &spa) and Mozart (famous restaurant) in Budva, who are known as large catering companies, are satisfied, I think there is reason to be optimistic about the work I do. It is a bit of a problem for me that some of these products from the competition are imported illegally, but I hope that this problem will be solved soon. I have had a company for eight years, I have a total of three machines and I need a fourth machine because I plan to expand the production. Recently, I bought a high quality recipe for ice cream. They were tried in dozens of restaurants and cafés and they are very satisfied with the quality of the ice cream. But I did it with a borrowed machine. So, I hope that from working with equipment that I have now, I will be able to raise money, buy another machine and produce custom made ready-to-eat ice cream “, says Nedović.

He currently has two employees working with him, but he hopes to hire, as he says, “at least two more workers” soon.

“I am very grateful to Help for their support and cooperation because you have enabled me to have a great packaging for top products now. I hope for continued cooperation in the future. I believe that it also means for Help that, when I appear on the market, you can clearly see that you have invested well. My company does not owe a single cent to the state for eight years of production and we are working successfully. I raise my family from this company, I don’t have an opulent life and I can’t afford some of the more expensive machines that I want, but I’m not poor, “Srđan Nedovic told us.

The fourth machine would ensure to him to complete the production line and find its place on the domestic market with the following products: ice cream, whipped cream, hot chocolate and liquid chocolate. That is a perspective for the future for him.

As Mr. Nedović, the beneficiary of this program is also Mirjana Bojić, a 26-year-old from Peć, but she has been living in Berane for 20 years. She is a single mother of a three-year-old boy, unemployed.

She raises her son thanks to help from her brothers, as she receives only 80 euros in social assistance. Through Help’s project she completed a licensed training for beautician – with an emphasis on manicure. After training and graduation, she plans to open her own beauty parlor something she has wanted to do for a long time.

“This project that you are implementing is very useful, both for young women who want to work and for me as a young woman and a single mother with a three-year-old child. This means a lot to me because I was given the opportunity to advance in a business, as well as to help me build myself, “she says.

Mirjana Bojić previously worked in different kind of stores in Berane – a mini-market and a bakery, but this is a chance to provide herself with a craft that will help her to have a more stable income and greater safety. Thanks to this project, she received professional training in the Berane beauty salon “Kristal beauty.”

“Just at the moment when I was trying to save some money to enroll in a course for beautician, this great opportunity opened up from you through Help; it turned out really great for me. I am very satisfied with the training that was provided to me – there were classes, and then practical exercises and learning this job well is especially important. I am very satisfied with what I learned, as well as with the mentor who really tried to pass on me all her knowledge,” Bojić told us.

With the professional certificate that she obtained, the door for her employment in one of the beauty salons in Berane opens, and in the future – and that is her great wish – she will open her own beauty salon.

“In any case, with this craft, I am sure that I can always secure a job and income for myself, and that gives me security that I did not have before. Although at this moment my mentor does not need additional workers, I have already started working independently by house call, until I find a job in one of the local salons, “Mirjana Bojić told us.

Neško Dejanović was born in 1974 in Prishtina. He has been living in Berane for 21 years and is engaged in all construction work and from it supports his family for years, his wife and daughter. He is very satisfied with the quality of the machines and tools he received within the project and it means a lot to him, because only now he is able to complete the whole process of work “keys in a hands” as it is called in slang.

“Years ago, 10-12 years, I applied for assistance from Help and the German embassy, and then I got some tools, and that was very valuable and of the great importance for me, because when we left Kosovo, we came without anything. In the beginning, when I started working, I almost mixed the mortar with my hands so that I could work, I didn’t have a basic drill or anything else,” he told us during the break, while the wall was drying on a house in Berane.

“As a lot was built, worked and developed in the country, so we bought tools and supplements, but as you know one never has enough tools. This time, I learned from a friend that there is a chance to apply again for Help’s assistance for us displaced people, and I knew that Help appreciates a good artisan.”

Neško Dejanović works as an independent contractor and has two permanent workers, but when he has a larger scope of work, he hires eight or nine people for certain construction sites.

“I had a plan to open an office with one architect, but due to these crazy circumstances with the pandemic and the consequences of it, nothing of that for now, he had to close the existing one. So, the idea of opening a company will wait for a while, until we see what will happen. ”

When asked if he personally had work in the past year due to the pandemic, he said that he did and that he practically did not have a time to catch a breath, but at the same time he used this partial lockdown to finish the construction of his own house.

“I used three or four first lockdown months to finish my house, because we lived in rented property for a long time – quite a long time, 17 years. I am doing all interior works on the basis “keys in a hand” – of course we also do exterior work, facades, stone work and plus all interior work.”

Dejanović finished the high school for electrical engineering, but during his studies, in order to support himself, he worked on buildings and thus learned to do all other construction jobs.

“I trained judo as a student, and my coach had a construction company, where I occasionally worked, to make money – and that’s how it started, you improve yourself and ‘steal’ crafts – and I learned. I am really good in this job and I’ve been doing it for years, even though I’m a professor by formal vocation, but I’ve never been able to get a job in school. ”

When asked if he could pay for his pension and social security from the money that he earns as an independent contractor, he honestly answers:

“If I hadn’t lived as a tenant and paid rent and then took a loan to build a house, through my wife, who works in education, I could have. But you know how it is, when you run away from home and come to another place, literally with nothing and with lack of everything, you have to start from scratch. We have been here for 21 years, we had to live and build life here. ”

As he says, everything had to be built from scratch and provide life for his family, from the time he borrowed tools until now when he completed his collection of tools. Through this project financed from the Julia Taft Fund via the US Embassy in Podgorica, he got a compressor for the parquet, then a “giraffe” and a dehumidifier. He jokes:

“I have more wishes, if you are interested.”

Then he seriously adds:

“I still have the first tools I got from Help in 2005. I’m sorry that you found me at work, otherwise we could photograph it, but I can tell you it’s still in use and it looks like it’s unpacked just now, because I keep my tools carefully and I don’t allow anyone to behave carelessly with it, because the bread for my family depends on it and that’s it,” construction contractor Neško Dejanović told us.

The Municipality of Berane, through the engagement of the staff of the Regional Business Center, supports the project “Strengthening the individual economic capacities of displaced persons in Berane” implemented by Help, and funded by the US Government through their Embassy in Podgorica from the Julia Taft Fund.

Extended deadline for tender: Rehabilitation and reconstruction of pig breeding facility no. 2 in UIKS Spuž

Podgorica, 11.05.2021

Corrigendum to the Tender no. PMNE-SOE005-21-21-10 for Rehabilitation and reconstruction of the pig breeding facility no. 2 in UIKS Spuž Municipality of Danilovgrad/ Obavještenje o tenderu broj PMNE-SOE005-21-21-10 za dostavljanje ponuda za Sanaciju i rekonstrukciju objekta za uzgoj svinja br. 2 u UIKS-u Spuž Opština Danilovgrad

17 of the Tender Notice – New deadline for submission of tenders/ Član 17. Objave tendera – Novi rok za dostavljanje ponuda

Tender must be received by the Contracting Authority before the date and time limit for submission, that is 26.05.2021 by 12:00. / Tenderska dokumenta moraju biti dostavljena Ugovaraču prije roka za dostavljanje ponuda, odnosno do 26.05.2021. godine do 12 časova.

17 of the Tender Notice – New time of tender opening session/ Član 17. Objave tendera – Novo vrijeme sesije javnog otvranja ponuda

26.05.2021. 12:30 at Help Montenegro Office/u kancelariji Help-a, Oktobarske revolucije 122/3, 81000 Podgorica.

11 Of the Tender Notice – Information meeting and/or site visit / Član 11. Objave tendera – Informativni sastanak i/ili posjeta lokacijama

Site visit is scheduled on Friday, 14.05.2021 at 12:00 AM. / Posjeta lokaciji će se održati u petak 14.05.2021. godine u 12:00 sati.

All interested parties shall send copy of ID via e-mail to: [email protected] latest on Thursday, 13.05.2021 at 12:00 AM. / Svi zainteresovani za učeće u posjeti lokaciji moraju da dostave kopiju lične karte mailom na adresu: [email protected] najkasnije do četvrtka 13.05.2021. godine, 12:00 sati.

All other terms remain unchanged. / Sve ostale odredbe ostaju nepromijenjene.

Workshop and iftar with women of the RE population in Podgorica

10.05.2021

A workshop on topic of human rights, with a focus on women’s rights, has gathered 19 participants of the Roma-Egyptian (RE) population from the settlement of Konik in Podgorica on Friday May 7, 2021 and on Saturday evening May 8, 2021 for iftar (ftoor).

Roma and Egyptian women, in addition to learning of women’s rights, had the opportunity to say what are the most common problems and obstacles they face in everyday life – and further aggravated in the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As well as the general RE population in Montenegro, both Roma and Egyptian women are part of the most vulnerable category of Montenegrin citizens, due to discrimination and poor socio-economic status. They face obstacles at every step, both when trying to exercise basic rights and within the community itself. The reasons for this are numerous.

In addition to the discussion on the topic of protection of women’s rights which was led by Marijana Blečić, the participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the procedure of enrolling children in the kindergarten “Vrela Ribnička” within the Public Educational Institution “Đina Vrbica”. The workshop was also attended by educator Milica Otašević, who pointed out the importance of early education. Hygiene packages were distributed to the participants after the workshop.

For the participants of the workshop we prepared a joint iftar (ftoor) the next day, p, as Ramadan fasting ended with Eid, this year on Thursday, May 13.

The workshop and iftar (ftoor) for Roma-Egyptian women are part of the activities we are implementing within the project “Civil society in action promoting and protecting Roma and Egyptian rights in Montenegro” funded by the European Union through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).

The project is being implemented by Help and the partner Roma youth organization “Walk with us Phiren-Amenca”.

The atmosphere from the workshop on Friday can be seen below:

The exhibition “Human Rights through the Lens of Young Roma and Egyptians” presented in Nikšić as well

04.05.2021

The exhibition of nine young Roma-Egyptian (RE) authors from Podgorica and Berane was presented in the past seven days to the people of Nikšić at the Public Institution “Nikšić Theater”.

The exhibition was organized last year to mark Human Rights Day on December 10, 2021 in the Parliament of Montenegro. The exhibition was then presented in Bijelo Polje and Berane as one of numerous activities within the project “Civil Society in Action for the Promotion of Roma and Egyptian Rights in Montenegro”. The project is funded by the European Union through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and implemented by Help and the partner Roma youth organization “Walk with us – Phiren Amenca”.

The well-known photographer Dejan Kalezić, a native of Nikšić, opened the exhibition. Dejan Kalezić coached the nine students and selected the photos for the exhibition. Eight high school students and one student of the final grade of primary school are the authors of the exhibition: Besart Krasnići, Daut Đukatani, Elmedina Jašaraj, Enis Zumberi, Erđan Beriša, Ersan Beriša, Jasmina Beriša, Muhamed Ahmetaj and Sadrija Krasnići.

The selector of the exhibition is a distinguished Montenegrin photographer – Dejan Kalezić.

The two authors of the photo exhibition, Erdjan Gianni Berisha and Enis Eni Zumberi, also did a rap song about the human rights of Roma and Egyptians “Who are you to judge me” as part of the same project. The song was also mentioned at the opening of the exhibition.

After the exhibition, a round table was held where we gathered representatives of local institutions in Niksic from services important for the access to basic rights – employment, education, health services and social care.

It was an opportunity for representatives of RE organizations from Niksic, a city with a significant Roma-Egyptian community, individuals from the RE population, and representatives of other NGOs dealing with human rights of this most vulnerable group in Montenegro, to exchange views on the most important issues from the citizens’ everyday life.

ICT Coretex and Help will support young and marginalized groups in acquiring IT skills

29.04 2021

Through the Regional Program for Inclusive Economic Development in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, the Swedish government supports the development of the Montenegrin ICT cluster Cortex with the help of German Help and their partner organization Swiss Helvetas.

The organization for the development of new technologies ICT Cortex and Help signed an Agreement today in order to support the development of the Montenegrin ICT cluster within the project “Reconomy”, which Help is implementing in partnership with Helvetas (Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation).

“Reconomy” is a new project that will support the development of skills, knowledge and mediation in the Western Balkans. It will contribute to the better functioning of business services, the provision of a skilled workforce, as well as the promotion of the regional brand.

The Cortex ICT cluster intends to achieve these goals through the harmonization, organization and certification of trainings, by supporting internationalization, strengthening export potential and by strengthening the IT sector as a strategic industry at the national level. Cluster members are expected to train 100 people in the IT sector by the end of the “Reconomy” project.

In practice, it will also mean branding the region by stimulating the competitiveness of private sector enterprises and creating a critical mass of skilled women, youth and other marginalized groups to generate more inclusive and sustainable development.

The purpose of the Agreement signed with ICT Cortex is to create a business environment that eliminates barriers to faster development of the IT industry, better and safer business for members of the ICT cluster, expansion into other markets and digitalization of the state apparatus and economy of Montenegro.

“We are pleased that we are recognized by Help as an inclusive association that aims to create an environment for strengthening the IT sector and creating conditions for the IT sector to become the backbone of the future development of Montenegro. We believe that we will justify the given trust and make the best use of financial assistance that is important for us in positioning ICT Cortex and raising public awareness of the importance of the existence of such an association, as well as promoting the education programs we plan” –announced the ICT cluster Cortex.

“This program is an opportunity for us to provide access to a new, future-oriented sector – young people – by enabling them to acquire modern digital skills that will ensure a decent life in their countries,” said Klaus Mock, Regional Help Coordinator.

The activities to be funded by Help focus on the initial actions planned by the ICT cluster and facilitate the launch of the long-term activities in Montenegro and the Western Balkans. Help through this contract supports the cluster in launching a campaign that will consist of a series of marketing activities aimed at raising awareness of the existence of the cluster.

In addition, Help will also fund the creation of a bilingual website, a graphic standards book, and the development of HR software.

Tender: Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the Pig Breeding Facility no. 2 in UIKS Spuž

German non-governmental organization

Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe

Announces tender for:

SELECTION OF THE CONTRACTOR FOR EXECUTING CONSTRUCION WORKS

Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the Pig Breeding Facility no. 2 in UIKS Spuž Municipality of Danilovgrad, REF. NO. PMNE-SOE005-21-21-10

Messages of young Roma for The International Roma Day, April 8

The International Roma Day, April 8, is a day of celebrating Roma culture and raising awareness about the problems that Roma are facing.

For this important and splendid occasion, we have singled out the messages of exceptional young people from the Roma community with whom Help is cooperating on the project “Civil society in action promoting and protecting Roma and Egyptian rights in Montenegro” which is funded by the European Union. The project partner is the Roma youth organization “Walk with us -Phiren Amenca”.

The concept of the video was designed by the Center for Affirmation of the RE-population – CAREP on the occasion of April 8.

The video was broadcasted this morning on the Public Service – RTVCG as well as on TV Nikišić, but its main purpose according to the idea of CAREP, is to forward it to schools so that the majority population can get to know and get closer to their fellow Roma population in an informative and educational way.

On the same occasion and within the same project, the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro responded to the call of CAREP to illuminate its building in the colors of the Roma flag. The initiative was accepted by the US Embassy in Montenegro, as well as the Capital city of Podgorica. So tonight, the Millennium Bridge will be in the colors of the Roma flag, along with the American Embassy.

Here is how the building of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro looked last night:

The International Roma Day – among other activities, was also celebrated by Music Against Prejudice – by promoting young Roma musicians “Gianni & Eni” whom we helped to record a video for their first rap song “Who are you to judge me”, as part of Help’s project “Civil society in action promoting and protecting Roma and Egyptian rights in Montenegro”.

As part of the program of celebrating the The International Roma Day in Bijelo Polje, the NGOs Roma Movement and the Roma Club of Culture RoCk will award the Roma Heart Award to the “Public Institution – Secondary Vocational School” in Bijelo Polje.

In addition to the appropriate program that celebrates Roma identity and culture, it is planned to expand the school’s library fund with 40 of school textbooks.

Presentation of UPRE and workshop on advocacy for achieving the RE goals

5. 04. 2021

Roma NGOs and individual activists had gathered for a workshop in the previous three days in Podgorica, where the UPRE – the United Roma and Egyptian Movement (“gore” in Romani) had been presented.

This important initiative – Coalition of Roma and Egyptian civil society organizations – UPRE, whose primary goal is to gather RE organizations and their joint empowerment for the best possible action for the benefit of the Roma-Egyptian community or communities, has resulted from various activities and trainings within the project “Civil society in action promoting and protecting Roma and Egyptian rights in Montenegro” which is funded by the EU.

Gathering the RE organizations in one place and their coordination can be a good way or model to solve specific problems of this community more efficiently than before – gaining better insight into specific community problems and formulating a better platform their solution – or more active participation in creating policy and influence on decisions related to the RE population.

Elvis Beriša, Executive Director of the Roma Youth Organization, “Walk with us – Phiren Amenca” and a partner in this project, presented the platform and draft of the statute of this informal civic initiative aimed at bringing together Roma and Egyptian organizations and individuals on common issues that are important for improvement of the situation for Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro.

Those gathered around the UPRE coalition or association – the Roma activists who were present have agreed that the goal is a better and more efficient platform through which it would be easier to identify numerous problems that afflict the RE population, which are being solved extremely slowly or not being solved at all; and then have coordinately campaigned together for the solution of these problems towards responsible addresses – local and state levels of government.

The participants of the workshop, limited to around 15 representatives of RE organizations and individuals due to measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, discussed the best modalities of UPRA’s work and in the next 10 days it was planned to materialize them by signing an application form for this civic initiative.

At the same time, a training for organizing advocacy campaigns has been organized for the participants of the gathering, and the best practical examples were presented.

The trainer was Goran Đurović, who has many years of experience in the NGO sector and in the practice of fighting to overcome various administrative and institutional barriers when it comes to solving certain social and economic problems at the local and national level.

Help and Phiren Amenca are implementing the project “Civil society in action promoting and protecting Roma and Egyptian rights in Montenegro” with the financial support of the European Union and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).

In the past year and a half within this RE project, non-governmental organizations and activists have individually participated in numerous activities despite the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to strengthening of the RE organizations through strengthening of their own capacities and capabilities, the project has had and still implements various activities aimed at women and youth from the RE population, both in economic terms and educational and cultural empowerment and promotion, and there is also an important segment of legal and technical assistance in the legalization of informal facilities in Roma settlements.

Photo gallery from the workshop follows:

Exhibition of photographs of young Roma and Egyptians in the Polimski Museum

12. 03. 2021

The third destination of the exhibition “Human Rights through the Lens of Young Roma and Egyptians” is Berane where, thanks to the director of the Polimski Museum Violeta Folić, we have exhibited photos of nine young Roma and Egyptian high school students, from Berane and Podgorica.

While she was opening the exhibition, Ms. Folić emphasized that she was especially glad that the doors of this important cultural institution were opened in this way for the RE community, one of the most vulnerable groups in Montenegro, through the works of these young people who, by quality of their works and also by demonstrating the way on which they see the world around them through the lens of the camera, showed that the future lies before them.

“That is exactly why we are happy to open the doors of the Polimski Museum to these talented young people and we will do our best to keep them opened for all similar initiatives, which aim to promote Roma-Egyptian culture as a community that can offer its rich cultural and historical heritage”, stated Folić.

This exhibition is one of the activities implemented by Help together with our partners from the Roma Youth Organization “Walk with us – Phiren Amenca”, within the project “Civil society in action promoting and protecting Roma and Egyptian rights in Montenegro”, thanks to the EU financial support and their Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EDIHR).

This exhibition is not just a project activity, but it is rather very important to us, bearing in mind the fact that there is a very small number of activities carried out at the state level of Montenegro, which are related to the promotion of Roma rights through some kind of art, said the executive director of Roma Youth Organization “Walk with us – Phiren Amenca” Elvis Beriša.

“Berane is the third largest municipality in terms of Roma and Egyptian population, and we are all aware that the Roma community is among the most affected, and perhaps the most affected community of all with or without Covid 19, and that they do not have what other communities take for granted. We, at Phiren Amenca, believe that young Roma men and women are the greatest defenders of the human rights of the Roma community and therefore it is important to recognize and use this kind of resource, so that we can have better results as a society, in the inclusion of the Roma community. The new generation of educated Roma men and women is more than ready to take the opportunity to show how much they can and want to contribute to Montenegrin society, if you would just give us the right to do so. As you can see, this opportunity was well used by young people as an activity and so we are richer for one exhibition today. This exhibition is one of the innovative approaches of young Roma men and women who wanted to demonstrate through their lenses that we are different from how others see us ” said Beriša..

Aziz Alija, from the Berane Roma organization “Pružena ruka” has also emphasized that his countrymen were additionally affected in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is therefore logical that the past year has made living conditions even more difficult in both Roma settlements in Berane – Riverside and Talum. You know that the living and working conditions are extremely difficult, especially if you do not have a permanent job which is usually the case when it comes to the RE community, and this is largely felt in our community, despite the occasional humanitarian aid we receive. So in these extraordinary circumstances – the right to live in decent conditions is certainly primary. However, despite these extraordinary circumstances Roma and Egyptians, especially we the Roma youth, have through various activities in the community and with the help of NGOs, worked on other segments of inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in society, through strengthening of the NGOs themselves, introduction of the human rights corpus but also the mechanisms through which we can achieve them”, emphasized Alija, who is especially proud of his fellow citizens who are among the authors of the exhibition.

As a citizen of Berane, I can say with particular pride that two of the nine authors of this exhibition – Erđan Beriša i Enis Zumberi (Gianni & Eni) within the project “NGOs in action to promote and protect the human rights of Roma and Egyptians” went a step further, and that they recorded the rap song “Who are you to judge me” which deals with the human rights of our community”.

Apart from Gianni and Eni, the authors of the exhibition are Besart Krasnić, Daut Đukatani, Elmedina Jašaraj, Ersan Beriša, Jasmina Beriša, Muhamed Ahmetaj, Sadrija Krasnići. The selector of the exhibition is the renowned Montenegrin photographer Dejan Kalezić.

We from Help are especially grateful to the director of the Polimski Museum for enabling us to set up the exhibition “Human Rights through the Lens of Young Roma and Egyptians” in this important cultural institution that transcends local character and collects and preserves historical artifacts, not only of Polimlje. but also of whole Montenegro since 1955 – that is, for more than 65 years.

The Montenegrin cultural heritage and the cultural heritage of all other communities living in this area are preserved in similar institutions, as a testimony to the duration and development throughout history. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the case of the Roma-Egyptian (RE) community, although our fellow citizens and compatriots have been sharing good and evil with us for a long time. We will not reveal anything new when we say that discrimination and ethnic distance are the main reasons why the RE community in this area does not have its own cultural institutions in which to collect, preserve and promote their historical heritage, which is not small but very rich and special.

We hope that this exhibition, as well as other activities and types of assistance which Help provides in more than 20 years of work with the Roma community in Montenegro, will one day through joint efforts of civil sector and state institutions result in a form of special place for RE community, for collection of cultural and historical heritage. But we want them to regularly, and not infrequently as on these occasions and such places, share their cultural heritage with other communities in Montenegro, where they are formally but still not essentially equal. This is, we would say, one of the good steps in that direction.

The exhibition was presented for the first time on December 10, on the Human Rights Day in the Parliament of Montenegro, and then on February 18 in Bijelo Polje in the public institution “Ratković’s Poetry Evenings”.

After the exhibition we held a round table at the same place to talk about the specific inclusion of RE in the local in Berane. We tried to gather the representatives of the Roma-Egyptian community here, but also, of course, representatives of the institutions of the system – the Municipality, educational and health institutions, the Center for Social Work and the Employment Bureau – all of which are crucial for supporting the RE community in this city regularly, and especially in the conditions of a pandemic that we have been living under for a year.

It was an opportunity for us all to consider what are the key problems we face when it comes to the inclusion of the RE community in Berane, what local institutions and services, such as social services, employment services, medical and educational institutions do to solve these problems. – and on the other hand, how the community itself views access to these services and institutions.

Presenting the achievements of the local strategy on behalf of the Municipality, Ljubinka Mijović emphasized that the long-term goal is to stop the ghettoization of the RE community in this city, and that for that purpose the Municipality of Berane has allocated 18 housing units for citizens of the RE population trough the social care program.

All responded to the invitation and, in intensive discussion and dialogue, concluded that problems in access to education are intensively and much better than before solved with the help of relevant institutions and the support of NGOs, through organized transportation of students, mentors and scholarships for primary and secondary school students. It was emphasized that the employment situation due to the coronavirus pandemic is especially challenging in Berane, as well as elsewhere in the past year.

A special challenge in this city, according to the representatives of the Center for Social Work, but also the representatives of the RE population, are the problems with unresolved status, mostly refugees and displaced persons from Kosovo, who have lived here for more than 20 years and have started families. The process of registering their children is particularly difficult, and thus the access, protection and exercise of some of the basic rights. Representatives of the RE community and the Center for Social Work themselves believe that large bureaucracy and often for this affected population, expensive and unattainable paperwork,is one of the key obstacles to regulating the legal status.

However, the unregulated legal status, according to Dr. Suzana Savović, is not an obstacle to providing basic medical care to Roma-Egyptian children in Berane. The problem with paperwork, as she said, arises when further treatments are necessary, but not for basic health care.

Dr. Savović especially emphasized that regular vaccinations were organized for all children in both RE settlements in Berane every year, and that they have never skipped anyone – until the last year, when due to the COVID-19 pandemic they could not organize vaccinations in the usual way by visiting Riverside and Talum.

Together, we have concluded that with this joint action, the institutions of the system and us from the civil sector could soon find a way to organize regular vaccination of RE children in Berane, while respecting all prescribed measures against coronavirus pandemic.

Both the exhibition and the round table were organized in compliance with the measures of the institutions for the prevention of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biljana Jovićević

Exhibition “Human Rights through the Lens of Young Roma and Egyptians” in Bijelo Polje

22.02.2021

“Bijelo Polje is a city of culture, we can freely say that culture lives in Bijelo Polje” said the director of “Ratković Poetry Evenings” Kemal Musić, who enabled Help to hold an exhibition of photographs “Human Rights through the lens of young Roma and Egyptians” in their prestigious city institution Risto Ratković House, whose authors are Roma-Egyptian (RE) high school students from Podgorica and Berane.

An exhibition was opened in Bijelo Polje on Thursday, February 18, and it will be possible to see it in this city for two weeks.

Kemal Musić emphasized that as a long-term journalist he visited a large number of RE settlements and was convinced of how difficult are conditions in which this community functions and how things change slowly, but he emphasized that he was especially “delighted by the joy of these photographs”.

“So, that difficult Roma life is only shaded through a few photos in this setting. But what this exhibition above all suggests is life, and life is a basic human right. “

Elvis Beriša from Help’s partner organization on this project – Roma youth organization “Walk with us – Phiren Amenca” emphasized that as part of numerous activities on the project “NGOs in action to promote and protect the human rights of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro “, this activity is especially dear, because the focus is on young people.

“The photos we can see in this important home of culture are the result of many months of work with young people and their views and human rights perspectives. This is especially important today when we notice that this distance towards this community is constantly growing, and young people from the RE population want to see things differently. So they did not show the bad life of the RE community but affirm what our community is currently doing and living – and above all, affirming education. We at Phiren Amenca believe that young people are the drivers of positive change in the community and we believe that change can only happen with education.”

The regional coordinator of Help, Klaus Mock, emphasized that he was very grateful to our host, Kemal Musić, the director of Ratković’s Poetry Evenings, who enabled us and young Roma and Egyptian activists the Risto Ratković House as one of the central cultural venues in Bijelo Polje to show photos taken by young people and show us the perspective of their lives.

“As there is still a big difference in the standard of living between the Roma and Egyptian communities and the majority population, I believe that the municipality of Bijelo Polje will give its contribution to help significantly improve the general situation of Roma in this municipality. Equal opportunities for citizens to engage in civic and political life are key to democracy. For that reason we in Help through EU-funded project “Civil Society in Action to Promote the Rights of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro” we support several Roma organizations that will become the main promoters of these rights.”

One of the activities we helped was the establishment of the Roma Cultural Club RoCK in Bijelo Polje. In front of this organization, Rozana Božović emphasized how important culture and identity are for Roma, which is why a cultural club was founded. As a sign of gratitude for the help in founding the club, but also for everything he did with Help in the past period and is still doing to help the RE community, Božović presented Mock with the first award “Roma Heart” which will be regularly awarded to individuals or organizations which contribute to Roma integration.

Aziz Diberi, in front of the Berane RE organization “Extended Hand”, was especially proud that two of the authors of the installation, young people from Berane and at the same time the authors of the rap song that deals with human rights.

“It is through this exhibition of photographs “Human rights through the lens of young Roma and Egyptians” that my young compatriots have shown that despite the fact that our starting positions are not the same, we can and do offer this society – the same as everyone else. As a man from Berane, I can say with special pride that two of the nine authors of this exhibition – Erdjan Berisha and Enis Zumberi within the project “NGOs in action to promote and protect the human rights of Roma and Egyptians” went a step further by recording the tail the song “Who are you to judge me” which deals with the human rights of our community. They say that art is always the best when it is engaged, and I think that young Roma and Egyptians have shown that best with these two examples. “

The exhibition “Human Rights through the Lens of Young Roma and Egyptians” is part of the program “NGOs in action to promote and protect the human rights of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro”, which is implemented by Help in cooperation with the partner Roma youth organization “Walk with us – Phiren Amenca”, with the financial support of the European Union, ie the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).

It was opened for the first time in the Parliament of Montenegro on Human Rights Day on December 10, in the presence of the President of the Parliament Aleksa Bečić, who also opened the exhibition, and the Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro Cristina Oana Popa.

Eight high school students and one student of the final grade of primary school are the authors of the exhibition: Besart Krasnići, Daut Đukatani, Elmedina Jašaraj, Enis Zumberi, Erđan Beriša, Ersan Beriša, Jasmina Beriša, Muhamed Ahmetaj and Sadrija Krasnići.

The selector of the exhibition is a distinguished Montenegrin photographer – Dejan Kalezić.

The two authors of the photo exhibition, Erdjan Gianni Berisha and Enis Eni Zumberi, also did a rap song dealing with the human rights of Roma and Egyptians “Who are you to judge me” as part of the same project. The song was also mentioned at the opening of the exhibition.

After Podgorica, the exhibition arrived in Bijelo Polje, and we plan to present it in several other cities in Montenegro where we cooperate with RE communities.

The following are photos from the opening in Bijelo Polje:

On Friday, February 19, we also held a round table in Bijelo Polje where we talked with representatives of Roma NGOs as well as with the citizens of the RE population about the incusion of this community in the municipality of Bijelo Polje.

The challenges and problems faced by the RE community were also discussed with representatives of educational institutions and the Employment Bureau, as well as the Roma office that operates in the municipality of Bijelo Polje.

The citizens of the RE population especially pointed out the need for greater involvement of the Roma Office in providing assistance to the citizens of this community in exercising their rights in the public sector.

Šejla Pepić, a young Roma activist and our model of young and successful RE women, spoke about her personal experience, young educated Roma activists and how and in what way to become young to fight for their rights and against all forms of discrimination.

The following are photos from the round table:

The Help’s story about Milica

08.02.2021

Milica Brajović grew up in the Mladost Children’s Home in Bijela, and when she became an adult she returned to her hometown of Danilovgrad, where she built a life with the selfless help of the local staff from the Center for Social Work.

A year ago the Help also entered in her life. Milica was a beneficiary of the project “Improved access to the labor market for women and youth in the northeast of Montenegro” co-financed by the European Union and the Government of Montenegro within the Program of the European Union and Montenegro for Employment, Education and Social Policy- a job she loves very much.

Milica is also a beneficiary of one of the social housing apartments that was built by Help in Spuž, and provided to the Center for Social Work in Danilovgrad for using for their beneficiaries. The story of Milica Brajović testifies that with the joint work and care of institutions, primarily people who work in it, as well as all others in the support system, like us from Help, it is possible to help those who need support most.

We from the Help met Milica a year ago when she moved into one of the social housing apartments we built as part of the project “Support to socio-economic stability of the Western Balkans region 2019-2020”, funded by the German Government.