“Montenegro champion of UN reform” UN official says at signing of cooperation action plans

Podgorica, Montenegro (16 January 2012) – Montenegro signed today the 2012-2016 action plans for cooperation with UNDP and UNICEF to assist Montenegro’s EU bid and pursuit of UN goals, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Milan Roćen following the signing ceremony with UNDP’s Rastislav Vrbensky and UNICEF’s Benjamin Perks.

MFAEI Roćen said the action plans confirm excellent cooperation of the Government and the UN agencies and added that they fully correspond with the development needs of Montenegro, its EU negotiation process and also the UN Millennium Development Goals, the Millennium Declaration, recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and EU Commission’s opinion on Montenegro’s candidacy.

Noting that the action plans fall within the scope of the Delivering as One, Minister Roćen noted that some of the main goals from the agenda are social inclusion, building the administrative capacities, sustainable economic development and response to climate change. He also explained that the funding, $50 million in total, will come from standard UNDP and UNICEF resources and the Government will co-finance the projects alongside the partners and donors.

UNDP’s Resident Representative Rastislav Vrbensky said he believes “we are starting a new era of cooperation between UNDP and Montenegro,” noting that the planned activities are well harmonised with both the UN System’s mission within the UN Integrated Programme and Montenegro’s development priorities as set out by the Government.

He reiterated that the “key priority areas” are social inclusion, democratic governance, sustainable economic development and environment. He noted that the UNDP will particularly focus on “the public administration reform, judiciary, development of key ministries and local administration, inclusion and protection of vulnerable population, and supporting the country in making the concept of Montenegro being an ecological state operational”, such as projects in green economy, climate change and accountable local development.

UNICEF Representative in Montenegro Benjamin Perks added that the UN Integrated Programme for Montenegro for 2012-2016 and the UNICEF programme “aim to support the Government in achieving its human rights commitments and key development priorities in the context of EU integration process.” He made a point of saying that the UN has an excellent partnership with the Government, stressing that the UN “are very proud of our relationship, particularly given Montenegro's role as really a champion of UN reform.” He underlined that the UNICEF’s two main components in Montenegro are child protection and social inclusion.