ANNUAL REPORT 2003

EDUCATION REFORM PROGRAMME

Coordinator: Maja Kovacevic

The Education Reform Programme in 2003 has focused on providing support to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Montenegro and relevant educational institutions with a view to ensuring quality, continuity and sustainability of the reform process. Therefore three main components of our strategy have been continuing with support to key education reform segments (revision of curricula, training of teachers, textbook publishing reform, institutions building), helping the Ministry of Education and Science mobilize and ensure involvement of new donors and international institutions in this process, as well as contributing to the openness and transparency of the reform. Last April the Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Science have signed the Memorandum of Understanding aimed at affirming and further deepening the successful cooperation in the field of education reform that we have had so far.

In partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science the Foundation has been involved in and has provided financial and expert support for the following projects:

1. Curricula Revision- EUR 163,857.30

   Expert, organizational and financial support to the National Curriculum Council and sub-commissions for different levels of education. At the beginning of the year the Council has prepared a methodological framework and instructions for development of curricula on the basis of which the above commissions, established in March 2003, have been able to commence work on developing new curricula. At the beginning of the next year the new curricula will be sent to the General Education Council for adoption.

2. Mobilization of donors and international institutions EUR 18,390.03 

   With a view to ensuring sustainability of the reform process the Foundation has provided financial and organizational support to the Ministry of Education and Science in preparing a Donor information meeting in Brussels (April 16, 2003), a Donor information meeting in Podgorica (November 6,2003), a Donor information meeting in Belgrade (November 10,2003) and a Donor Conference on Education Reform in Montenegro (November 24,2003). Significant assistance in preparing and organizing these meetings has been provided by OSEP - SEE, Ljubljana (Regional Centre for Support to Education Reform in Southeast Europe) and the Brussels Office of the Open Society Institute.

3. Transparency of the education reform process and public information campaign: EUR 11,042.47

   In accordance with the principle of transparency and the need for providing information to the public and obtaining as much involvement by the general public as possible in the process of education reform the Foundation has provided funds for a media campaign (preparation and printing of posters, placing ads in daily press) as well as for publication of a monthly two-page supplement on education reform to the daily "Pobjeda".  Also, the Foundation has helped with designing the web page of the Ministry of Education and Science with a view to ensuring a better presentation of strategic reform documents and plans.

4. Teacher Training: EUR 29,134

   Conscious that teachers will be bearing the brunt of education reform and that, therefore this calls for investing a lot of resources into their training and preparation for the implementation of new curricula and teaching methods the Foundation has given particular attention to several projects relating to teacher training. These are:

   • In collaboration and with organizational, expert and financial support of the British Council - Young Learners (children aged 6 - 9) Training of Trainers Project;

   • In collaboration with and with organizational and expert support of the Vocational Education Reform Project (VET/Phare project financed by the European Agency for Reconstruction) training of teachers in the field of new techniques and teaching process humanization;

   • In collaboration with the US Consulate training of trainers for the project entitled "The Citizen" (introduction of civic education into elementary schools in Montenegro);

   • In collaboration with experts of the reform teams of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Montenegro the Project on Teacher Preparation for a Reformed School.

5. Reform of textbook publishing: EUR 10,947

   With a view to ensuring support for a comprehensive approach by the Department of Textbooks and Teaching Aids in preparation for designing and producing new textbooks the Foundation has allocated funds for:

   • Organization of seminars /training for authors of textbooks and teacher manuals in humanities and natural sciences;

   • The Conference on Textbook publishing issues in small countries organized by the Department of Textbooks and Teaching Aids and FOSI ROM programme EAST/EAST.

6. Expert support in different education reform segments:

   EUR 50,000 from the OSEP SEE fund

   With the assistance of OSEP SEE (Regional Centre for Support to Education Reform in Southeast Europe, of Ljubljana, Open Society Education Support Programme - South East Europe) working closely together with a large number of renowned European and regional experts, the Foundation has engaged several foreign experts with a view to providing support to local reform teams. These are:

   • Professor Dr. Ivan Svelte (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Ljubljana University) as the general consultant to the Curriculum Council;

   • Mrs Lucy Jones, Scotland, as consultant for elementary education;

   • Dr. Mojca Kovac Sebart, Ljubljana University, draft curricula evaluation expert;

   • Dr. Andrea Barle Lakota, Director of the Education Office, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Sloveia, curricula expert;

   • Mr. Ivan Lorencic, Director of the Second Grammar School in Maribor, curricula expert;

   • Dr. Zdenko Medves, The Faculty of Philosophy, Ljubljana University, curricula expert;

   • Professor Dr. Algirdas Zabulionis, Vilnius University, Litvania, marking and external examinations expert;

   • Mrs. Branka Abramovic-Piasevoli, Advisor, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia, expert in standards and education equipment;

   • Dr Phil Cohen, World Bank expert, textbook publishing;

   • Dr Miha Kovac, Professor at Ljubljana University, expert in textbook publishing;

   • Professor Dr. Terry Jennings, Oxford University, expert in writing textbooks;

   • Mrs. Marja Bester, Slovenia, expert in writing mother tongue textbooks;

   • Mr. Rok Kvaternik, Director of the publishing house "Rokus", expert in textbook publishing.

7. Support to the Ministry of Education and Science in conducting preparations for the reform implementation and institutions building: EUR 8,120

   • The Foundation has provided financial support to the Ministry of Education and Science Commission for selection of educational institutions that are to go ahead with the reform implementation in September 2004;

   • The Ministry of Education and Science Commission for drafting a law on education of children with special needs has been supported throughout its work and public debate organization.

   • With the assistance of the Southeast Europe Education Cooperation Network with headquarters in Ljubljana, a study visit to this institution has been organized for a group of specialists from the Centre for Vocational Education of Montenegro.

8. Support for participation in regional projects: EUR 1,645.57

   • With a view to facilitating access to all relevant documents on education in and outside the region, as well as collecting and sending information for the SEE Education Cooperation Network, the Foundation has provided funds for purchasing computers, printers and additional equipment for the local centre of this network situated in the Bureau for Education;

   • With the support of OSEP - SEE (Regional centre for support to education reform in Southeast Europe) the Foundation has provided funds for the participation of Montenegro in a regional project of the Educational Network of the Open Society Institute with a working title "The Book of Changes in Education in Southeast Europe".

9. Support to the Pedagogical Centre of Montenegro for the implementation of the programme "Step by Step" amounting to EUR 74,182.50 in addition to the amount of US$ 78,500 provided from the funds of OSI New York. 

   On the basis of the Agreement on implementation of the Step by Step programme, signed between FOSI ROM and the Pedagogical Centre of Montenegro, FOSI has provided for the Pedagogical Centre half of the annual amount required for the implementation of the above programme in the year 2003, while the remaining half has been provided by the OSI New York network programme.

In 2003 for the Education Reform programme the Foundation has provided funds totalling EUR 317,318.87 EUR. The Regional Centre OSEP SEE has provided EUR 50,000, while the OSI New York  network programme has provided the amount of US$ 78,500 for the Education Reform in Montenegro.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME

Coordinator: Bego Begu

Through the Public Administration and Local Government Programme in 2003 the Foundation has supported the process of decentralization of public administration and local government, implementation of regulations, training of civil servants - state administration/local government employees and NGO activists with a view to improving their professional and technical expertise and organizational skills and purchasing of equipment and programs for one municipality. We have given special attention to providing information to the public on the reform and its different segments, involvement of new donors in the reform process through joint donations and activities, encouraging cooperation between the NGO sector and government/local institutions and providing information on the role of the NGO sector in the process of stabilization and association to the EU, as well as on the structure and standards of the EU.

A survey of projects supported in the year 2003:

1. The Ombudsman institution and reporting on violation and protection of human rights - seminar for journalists from the region of northern Montenegro, applicant: NGO Manifesto, Review "Polje" and Montenegro Media Institute, EUR 3,887. This project is a follow up of a project successfully implemented under the same name by the Montenegro Media Institute (in December 2002) as part of a bigger project on introduction of the ombudsman institution in Montenegro, sub-project on awareness-raising campaign. The main objective of the workshop for journalist training has been to provide journalists with information on complex and sensitive issues of human rights, methods of their violation and protection and functioning of Ombudsman, as well as present to them the experience in reporting on ombudsman functioning in the region, specifically in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, states in which the ombudsman institution has been in place for some time.

2. Legal Report 1/2002, applicant NGO Association of Lawyers of Montenegro, EUR 2,500. The objective of the project has been to provide information to both the professional community and general public on comparative legal surveys of specific issues in the field of legal system reform, in particular in the field of reform of the judiciary, public administration and local government, as well as to open a public debate on above issues in order to facilitate best possible choice of practical solutions.

3. Citizen participation in local public affairs, training for municipal civil servants, applicant: NGO Agency for Local Democracy and Partnership of Montenegro, EUR 33,651. The implementation of this project, enabling the participants to get acquainted with forms, methods and techniques of citizen involvement in public affairs, is expected to contribute to creating a modern and pragmatic local government, ensure a more active and better quality participation of citizens in public affairs decision-making processes and enhance the level of public administration service provided to citizens and improve their understanding of the new system of local government, their rights and obligations.

4. Training of local government civil servants and NGOs in fund-raising and writing project proposals, applicant: NGO "Centre for NGO Development", EUR 12,640. The project's objective is to build capacity (improve expertise and skills) of local government and NGOs in raising funds, and enhance communication and cooperation between representatives of local government and NGOs. The training includes participants preparing and presenting project proposals addressing the needs of their municipality and/or NGO.

5. Local government reform and establishing new municipalities in Montenegro - public debate on advantages and disadvantages of establishing new municipalities in Montenegro, applicant: NGO Civil Action, Berane, EUR 4,083. Through a Q&A debate citizens of the local communities Petnjica and Gusinje were able to get acquainted with the reform provisions of the new Law on Local Government and possibilities for establishing new municipalities in Montenegro; the competences and responsibilities of local government under this law, in particular those devolved from the state level; with advantages that forming a municipality brings, as well as problems and difficulties relating to good quality human resources and creating and financing local administration; and with positive and negative Slovenian experience in this regard, given that the number of municipalities in Slovenia has been increased several times over a short period of time.

6. Building local government capacity for recognizing the needs of citizens, applicant: NGO "MANS - Network for NGO Sector Affirmation,", EUR 14,689. Training has a theoretical and a practical part, whose result will be a report on the needs of citizens in the municipalities in which training events take place. Presentation of reports to representatives of local NGOs and media will ensure that problems and priorities as defined by the citizens gain wider attention, while increasing the interest in realization of similar projects in other municipalities and enhancing the responsibility of municipal authorities for creating policies based on real needs of the citizens.

7. The role of the NGO sector in the process of stabilization and association to the EU - seminar for NGO representatives, an internal Foundation programme, EUR 7,399. At the seminar representatives of the NGO sector have been presented with the Slovenian experience ranging from negotiations for Slovenia's accession to the EU, Government strategy for cooperation with the NGO sector, a case study of negotiations in the field of environmental protection and the situation in the NGO sector in the phase of preparation of strategic documents. The lecturers were Mr. Fedor Cerne, Slovenia's National Coordinator for Cooperation with NGOs and Miss Natasa Sukic of the Slovenian NGO Centre. After the seminar some NGOs initiated action for the NGO sector (re)structuring and establishing cooperation mechanisms within the sector and with the Government of Montenegro.

8. School of European Integration, Applicant: NGO Civic Education Centre and NGO Centre for NGO Development, EUR 20,227. The Project encompasses establishment of the School of European Integration as a programme of alternative education in the field of ideas, implications, standards and main features of European integration, but also of the European civilization and European heritage in general. In addition to study of the above fields, the school will also seek to enable the participants to engage in individual and collective activities aimed at promoting and establishing European standards in the modern Montenegrin society.

9. Citizen Bureau with Information Centre, Applicant: The municipality of Ulcinj, EUR 16,848. The objective of the project is to achieve a better service to the citizen through an improved quality of work of the local government, including better efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. The project has been designed to create an integral information system at the level of the municipality, ensuring instantaneous access to all data essential for the operation of the municipal secretariats and services and for providing information to the public. The expected result of the project is a faster and better exchange of data, which means that citizens will find it easier and less time consuming to exercise their rights, as well as fulfil their obligations provided by the laws related to local government.

10. Modern planning and management of capital investment projects within the competence of state administration and local government - seminar for municipal and state administration civil servants, applicant NGO Montekspert, EUR 9,318. The project is a workshop aimed at familiarizing the participants with the requirements of investment management within the framework of new standards and legal regulations in order to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the field of planning and monitoring of investment projects. A special emphasis has been given to education in applying the new, revised legislation, harmonized with the European Union regulations (The Law on Construction, Official Gazette of RM 55/00 and the new Public Procurement Law, Official Gazette of RM, 40/01).

The total funds provided for this programme by FOSI ROM in 2003 amount to EUR 125,242.

LAW PROGRAMME

Coordinator: Tamara Srzentic

The supported projects from the national law programme are the following:

1. In the field of activities conducive to reform of the system of criminal legislation of Montenegro (and more broadly reform of the judiciary) in the year 2003 the Foundation has provided support to the Ministry of Justice of RM in the process of drafting criminal legislation: direct financial support has been provided for working groups engaged by the Ministry of Justice of RM to produce a Draft Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Law and Law on Amendments to the Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions (the above drafts are available on the web page of the Ministry of Justice of RM. Part of the funds allocated for this project under the title of "Criminal Legislation Drafting Project" has been used to upgrade the existing Internet presentation of the Ministry of Justice (indirectly) enhancing the transparency of the reform process - EUR 12,700.

2. In conformity with the plans of the Ministry of Justice of RM to introduce into the Montenegrin legal system the institute of notary, the Foundation has also provided necessary financial support to the working group engaged by the Ministry of Justice of RM to steer the process of drafting a Law on Notaries - EUR 4,640.

3. In order to enhance the capacity of the Public Relations Service of the Ministry of Justice of RM and bring the legal provisions laid down by the new penal legislation to the attention of the general public, the Foundation has provided funds for training of representatives of the Ministry of Justice of RM in the field of public relations (that will be conducted by the Montenegro Media Institute), as well as funds for a part of the public campaign relating to the presentation of the new legal solutions - EUR 11,209.

4. In collaboration with the Ministry for International Economic Relations and European Integration of RM and within the framework of the technical assistance of the Republic of Slovenia to the countries of Southeast Europe the Foundation has organized a meeting entitled "Slovenia's Experience in the process of EU Accession"", 7th - 8th July, 2003, Podgorica - EUR 3,112.

5. The Foundation has supported the project entitled "Financing of Political Parties - an analysis of the neighbouring countries" of the applicant NGO "Centre for Monitoring", Podgorica - a research project with the objective to analyse the existing preconditions in the Montenegrin context for the implementation of the Law on Financing of Political Parties in Montenegro and identify ways and modalities for its successful implementation - EUR 8,239.

6. The Foundation has supported a research project entitled "Possible Impact of Mediation Procedure on Case Backlog", applicant NGO "Centre for Safeguarding the Rights of Women and Children, Podgorica" - EUR 1,270.

The Projects supported in collaboration with the network institution Open Society Justice Initiative, with headquarters in Budapest:

7. On May 29-30, 2003 the Foundation organized, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice of RM and the Office of the American Bar Association in Montenegro, a meeting on "Criminal Legislation Reform and Alternative Criminal Sanctions" for representatives of working groups engaged to revise the penal laws and representatives of other professional groups potentially interested in introduction of alternatives to imprisonment sanctions into the Montenegrin criminal legislation - EUR 13,612.23

8. With the objective of ensuring systematized and objective information on efficiency and transparency of judicial proceedings in Montenegro, and as a result of joint efforts of the UNHCR, OSCE, ABA CEELI, FOSI ROM and the Fund for Humanitarian Law as local partner, the "Trial Monitoring Project in Montenegro" has been initiated and an NGO of the same name has been established. The costs of training personnel engaged in trial monitoring have been financed by OSCE, while FOSI ROM has financed the operating costs in 2003, totalling EUR 31,503.01.

9. With a view to providing objective information to the general public on progress of the reform of the judiciary, identifying problems in the Montenegrin judiciary and suggesting lines and modalities of its promotion, the Foundation has financed a project entitled: "Montenegrin Judiciary under a Magnifying Glass", whose applicants are independent weekly "Monitor" and "Centre for Democracy and Human Rights - CEDEM", Podgorica - EUR 17,000.

10. The Foundation is one of the founders of the Judicial Training Centre of Montenegro and in that capacity it has financed the operating costs of the Centre in 2003, too, which amounted to EUR 29,796

11. Support has been provided to the project "Enhancing the Work of Legal Clinics", applicant: the Centre for Legal Clinics, operating as a unit of the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro - EUR 8,890. With support of network institution Open Society Justice Initiative our Foundation has arranged a study visit of a delegation of the Centre to the Polish Foundation for Legal Clinics with headquarters in Warsaw (in April 2003), and a publication on the project (also with our Foundation's support) is to come out soon.

12. In the light of the forthcoming adoption of the Law on free access to information, Foundation has supported project of the NGO Association of Young Journalists of Montenegro titled "Preparation and implementation of the Law of free access to information". Aim of the project was to raise awareness among general public on the substance of the upcoming Law and rights proposed therein, primarily by means of distribution of the leaflet (on the procedures relevant for the implementation  of the Law) through daily newspaper and publishing of a handbook explaining ways in which right to free access to information can be effectuated. Also, the aim of the project was to provide delivery of free legal assistance in specific cases of breach of rights guaranteed by this Law, which would contribute ultimately to the formation of the preliminary legal practice in this realm.

Total funds provided for this programme by FOSI ROM in 2003 amount to EUR 141,971.24.

WOMEN'S PROGRAMME

Coordinator: Maja Kovacevic