Women’s Program (WP) was introduced in 1998, at the time of establishment of first NGOs concerned with improving the position of women in Montenegro and of increased public discourse on a number of issues related to (in)equality in family and public life. The problem that most WMNGOs focused on at that time was violence against women and domestic violence. In response to the growing need for support to the initiatives of the emerging women’s civil sector, WP was launched in 1999 within the then Open Society Institute-Montenegro; it functioned as a separate program, with one part of its budget provided by the Foundation and the other by OSI NWP/Network Women’s Program.

Between 2000 and 2003 WP supported projects aligned with the defined  programmatic priorities: prevention of violence against women; launching of educational and information-documentation initiatives; integration of gender component into public policies. It is important to mention that, during this period, OSI NWP, with main offices in New York and Budapest, functioned as na operational program supporting the activities of national foundations. At the global level, OSI NWP defined areas of OSI action in the domain of fighting for women’s rights, so the two given programmatic priorities were actually selected from a given menu.

One of the most important activities supported by the Foundation in this period was establishment of multidisciplinary teams for prevention of violence and local help to victims. A series of workshops and training events for representatives of health care centers, social welfare centers, police and local NGOs resulted in memoranda of cooperation and establishment of teams in five Montenegrin municipalities: Bar, Berane, Ulcinj, Podgorica and  Nikšić. The project was managed by the NGO SOS Line for Women and Children Victims of Violence from Podgorica and Nikšić. At the same time, the Foundation supported the work of NGOs that provided free legal aid to victims of violence. WP also supported activities concerning legislation; thus, in cooperation with UNHCR and Human Rights Center of the University of Montenegro, a project was launched to develop an analysis of laws addressing the issue of domestic violence. This paper served as a basis to incriminate domestic violence; this was endorsed in 2002 and is stipulated by Article 202 of the Criminal Code.  

The period in question was marked by the introduction of Women Studies, the first program of this kind in Montenegro, organized by the NGO ANIMA, Kotor. The same NGO set up an information-documentation center for the purpose of collecting and disseminating analyses, studies and literature on women’s sector and women’s movement in the region and elsewhere and starting similar research in Montenegro.  

As regards education-related initiatives and gender integration in  other areas, since it resumed operation within the reorganized Foundation Open Society Institute – Representative Office Montenegro in 2002, WP focused on gender equality  being addressed within the scope of other foundation programs. Starting from the activities supported through Education Reform Program, relying on and utilizing current trends in the reform process, in late 2002 the Foundation supported an analysis of existing elementary school textbooks from a gender perspective. The project resulted in a publication that was subsequently presented to the general and professional public, specifically to future textbook authors. The impact of thi publication is still evident in the much-improved gender balance in textbook illustrations and the adopted gender-sensitive language.

It is important to note that gender equality in the European integration process is one of the areas addressed under the Foundation’s European Program; School of European Integration has included this as a separate topic since its inception in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2006 WP continued to work along the same strategic priorities: gender and education, gender integration into public policies and prevention of violence against women. In 2005 and 2006, however, support to violence prevention was gradually downsized in favor of the two other areas. It should be noted that this concerned the budget more than program activities, as the Foundation continued to address the issue of violence against women as violation of fundamental human rights through its other programs, mainly European, PALG and Law Program.

Thus, WP resumed its support to local multidisciplinary teams by strengthening their capacities and facilitating better cooperation with local governments. During this period, OSI, UNIFEM and Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights launched a global project to promote women’s rights and prevent violence against women by launching the STOP VAW (Stop Violence Against Women) website. The Foundation enabled Montenegro’s participation in the project by budgeting it within its Women’s Program. One of the key outcomes of the project was the analysis of national legislation, strategies and action plans, published under the title Is the Government of Montenegro Concerned, which was presented to the public in 2007.

During the given period, the Foundation continued with activities to further mainstream gender equality in the education system and supported preparation of the regional project Gender Equality in Elementary Education. NGO Women’s Action obtained a grant for this project from OSI Re:fine Program, Budapest. The project included a large regional conference, held in 2004, which gathered representatives of ministries of education, textbook publishing departments and NGOs. As regards education initiatives, throughout the given period the Foundation supported the multidisciplinary Women’s Studies Program organized by the NGO Anima, Kotor. Each year, a group of approximately 20 participants undergo the 12-week program that gives them an opportunity to learn from renowned experts from the region about the history of women’s movement, major trends in feminism, women in literature, religion, media, film etc.  

Supplementing the activities under the Roma Program (Roma Education Initiative Project), WP paid particular attention to the issues of Roma women as a group facing multiple discimination. WP supported newly established Roma NGOs concerned with the status of Roma women, namely Roma Initiative Center, which was the first to research the situation of Roma women in the town of Nikšić. The Foundation also initiated projects supporting Roma girls to complete elementary education and to empower Roma mothers to assist their children in acquiring education.

Guided by the same aim of integrating gender issues in other programs, in 2004 – 2006 the Foundation enabled Montenegro’s participation in the regional project funded largely by OSI NWP, SEE EONET Project (Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in Southeast Europe). The project included a large conference organized by the Foundation’s European Program in Podgorica in late 2005, which launched the debate on advancing women’s rights in the process of European integration. The project also included an analysis and comparison of national legislation and EU directives on compulsory application of equal opportunities principle in employment and at work. Monitoring Report: Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in Montenegro was generated by the project; it provided analysis and recommendations for amending legislation and developing action plans for each of the participating countries in the course of their accession to the EU. The report on Montenegro was developed by Darko Ćurić and Nina Vujović-Krgović. Mrs. Vujovic-Krgovic presented the report findings and recommendations at the European Parliament in May 2006.  

Since 2005 – 2007, Public Administration and Local Governmet program (PALG) supported the project of strengthening the capacities of WNGOs for cooperation with the local governments in six Montenegrin towns. As of 2006, PALG has specificaly addressed gender equality within School of Democratic Leadership, a course organized by Nansen Dialog Center and intended for local representatives of political parties.

Between 2006 and 2009 WP encompassed two areas, defined as Gender and Education (support to vulnerable and groups facing multiple discrimination and strenghening women’s civil sector) and Gender Integration into Public Policies (support to educational and research projects aimed to promote and advocate change in public  policies).

For the purpose of achieving the first strategic priority, WP supported projects related to empowering Roma mothers and girls, aiming at their effective integration into society mainstream through education. Since 2008, WP supported projects focusing on improving the status of disabled women in the northern region of the country, especially concerning better access of this vulnerable group to health care.

Supplementing the activities under Education Reform Program (ERP), WP supported publication of the collection titled Women Mirrorred by the Media  in 2008. This was part of the project introducing media literacy as an elective subject in high schools, which aimed to integrate gender equality in the education process.  The publication was an analysis of a dozen of articles from Montenegrin print media, focused on the presentation of women in the media and the role of the media in producing gender stereotypes. In 2007, WP and ERP supported development of the Handbook on Sexual and Reproductive Health; in 2009, WP funded design of a series of workshops on issues presented in the Handbook, to be implemented in three high schools in Montenegro.

Women’s Studies project was supported in 2008; in 2009, however, the support was not granted, partly due to the announcements concerning introduction of Women Studies at the University of Montenegro (School of Philosophy, School of Political Science and private Mediterranean University) and mainly due to the fact that Swedish organization Kvinna Till Kvinna, which traditionally provided most of the budget, had withdrawn their presence in the region.

In 2009, the Foundation’s Law program allocated significant funds for the project aiming to establish a quality system of protection of women victims of violence through efficient enforcement of Article 220 of the national Criminal Code. The project includes an in-depth analysis of regulations and international legal standards in the area of protection from domestic violence and monitoring their implementation by the social servcies, police, judiciary and NGOs. The findings will be published in a separate publication, which will be delivered to all institutions relevant for consistent application of Article 220. In 2008, Law Program supported the review of practices related to free legal aid that also included cases of domestic violence.

Under the second strategic priority mentioned above - promotion of gender issues in public policies, WP supported several projects. The largest and most demanding was certainly the project Women’s Human Rights in Montenegro – Research and Development of CEDAW Shadow Report. For the purpose of this project, the Foundation initiated an informal coalition of NGOs tasked with developing a comprehensive analysis of implementation of UN CEDAW Convention. Key project implementor was NGO Anima, Center for Women’s and Peace Education. The coalition gathered activists from several other WNGOs. The project included a survey and analysis of women’s and men’s opinions on all areas addressed by the Convention, from discrimination against women in general to the situation of women in rural areas, in the family, at work, in education etc. The publication that contained relevant findings was presented on several occasions during 2009. Since the state is behind with the report on the implementation of CEDAW, this group of NGOs put pressure on the Government and obtained a response from Prime Minister Đukanović that the report would be ready by the end of 2009. At that time, the Shadow Report developed by this group of NGOs will also be made available to the public. It contains a number of specific recommendations on how to improve the status of women in Montenegro and an important outline of activities of all relevant agents.