The strategic impact assessment sharply critiques several proposals in the Draft Spatial Plan of Montenegro, highlighting their failure to adequately consider protected areas, sustainable development, and society's genuine needs. Issues persist with problematic solutions, including the dam on Komarnica and the military training ground on Sinjajevina. Maja Boričić The Strategic Impact Assessment (SIA) of the […]

Even the youngest in Podgorica's Roma settlements are exposed to illegal substances, which seriously endanger their health, further hinder socialization and escape from poverty Đurđa RADULOVIĆ I tried marijuana and cocaine at the age of 13, Lejla, a Roma girl (real name known to the editorial office), tells the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro […]

The multiple forms of vulnerability of girls and women from these communities make it difficult to escape from abusers. Shelters are often the only way out. Đurđa RADULOVIĆ "I was forced to get married to a man I didn't love. I was only 17, and he was much older. My husband, my brother-in-law, and my […]

Montenegro currently has just 46 mediators working across social protection, child welfare, employment, healthcare, and education. Although domestic and international organizations have been raising alarms for years about the critical need for more mediators, no government has yet taken meaningful action to address the issue. Andrea Jelic Sanja Selimović serves as a mediator for the […]

Women in these communities live even shorter lives than men due to the hardships they face, despite the fact that women generally have a longer life expectancy than men worldwide.Đurđa RADULOVIĆ "I have diabetes. I get free medication. The doctors told me I need to change my diet completely, but I can't afford to," says […]

The societal divide would be smaller if children had the opportunity to learn about Roma culture. Andrea JELIĆ ... "I ran away to the Netherlands.I gave birth to my tenth child.I had my eleventh child in Sweden.I am forty years old.I speak Romani (my mother tongue), Russian, Slovak, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Italian, French, Spanish, […]

LGBT+ Roma are invisible, and thus their existence is somehow denied both in the Roma and the LGBT+ community, says transgender Roma woman Ana Jovanović. The Draft Law on the Protection of Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination recognizes more severe forms of discrimination, including multiple and intersectional discrimination. Miloš RUDOVIĆ Racial discrimination is the first […]

Only two out of 22 final decisions for trafficking refer to begging and arranged marriage Maja BORIČIĆ The crime was committed ruthlessly, especially since the perpetrator is the parent of the injured party. He was convicted before - for violence against his wife and children, selling the youngest child in exchange for a motor vehicle, […]

The Law on Higher Education does not offer affirmative action for Roma and Egyptian students Miloš RUDOVIĆ "I could have been in the fourth year of my studies instead of the first... I almost gave up. I was demotivated and discouraged that I would not be accepted at any university. And I believe that if […]

A LARGE NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES THREATS THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND THE LIVES OF WOMEN FROM THE COMMUNITY Đurđa RADULOVIĆ If I get pregnant again, I could die. That's what the doctors told my husband and me, Milana (32) says for the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG). She got pregnant 11 […]

ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT OFFICIALLY RECORDED HOW MANY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES LIVE IN THE ROMA AND EGYPTIAN COMMUNITIES, SOME DATA INDICATE THAT THE FIGURES ARE WORRYING AND THE POSITION OF THESE PEOPLE IS VERY DIFFICULT Andrea JELIĆ Eight-year-old twin brothers lie on an old mattress in a dilapidated house in the Podgorica neighborhood of Vrela […]

NO PENALTIES FOR POLITICIANS SPREADING HATE SPEECH - THEY ENCOURAGE DISCRIMINATION AND PREJUDICE Miloš RUDOVIĆ "Scabies," "dirty," and "arrogant garbage collectors" are just some of the comments that Montenegrin students, as well as some politicians, used to describe members of the Roma and Egyptian (RE) nationality. Comments on social networks pose a serious problem, and […]

DATA FROM THE EMPLOYMENT AGENCY SHOWS THAT LAST YEAR ALMOST THE SAME NUMBER OF FEMALE AND MALE MEMBERS FROM THE RE COMMUNITY GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET EMPLOYED. HOWEVER, THE PERCENTAGE OF UNEMPLOYED WOMEN IS ABOUT A SIXTH HIGHER THAN OF MEN FROM THE SAME POPULATION When she got a job as a mediator in […]

MOST OF THE RESPONDENTS (58 PERCENT) THINK THAT LESS KNOWLEDGE IS REQUESTED FROM STUDENTS FROM THE ROMA AND EGYPTIAN COMMUNITY COMPARED TO THE GENERAL POPULATION. SUCH AN APPROACH PUTS THEM IN AN UNFAVORABLE POSITION AND MAKES THEM UNPREPARED - FOR THE LABOR MARKET REGULATION AND FURTHER EDUCATION, THE RESEARCH SHOWS   Due to the prejudices, […]

"THE ISSUE OF TEENAGE PREGNANCIES IS COMMON IN RE COMMUNITY, CONSIDERING THAT CHILD ARRANGEMENT MARRIAGE IS CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH EARLY PREGNANCY, " JOVANA KNEŽEVIĆ, PSYCHOLOGIST FROM THE CENTER FOR ROMA INITIATIVES, STATED Several thousand minors have given birth in the last ten years in Montenegro, among them 14-year-old girls. The interlocutors of the Center for […]

ONLY 11 PERCENT OF "BOŽIDAR VUKOVIĆ PODGORIČANIN" SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM MINORITY POPULATIONS FINISHED THE EIGHTH GRADE THIS SCHOOL YEAR, WHILE 92.30 PERCENT OF RE STUDENTS PASSED THE SAME CLASS LAST YEAR. THE COUNTRY STILL DOES NOT HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE FAILURE OF THE SYSTEM Only 11 percent of […]

DESPITE THE RISING ENROLLMENT, QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ROMA CHILDREN IS STILL A KEY ISSUE Almedina is in the seventh grade of an elementary school in Bar. At the request of a journalist from the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) to read a paragraph from the book, she reluctantly agrees, warning that she does […]

A BOY AND A GIRL, VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING, DID NOT RECEIVE ADEQUATE SYSTEM SUPPORT AFTER THEY WERE RESCUED. THIS IS THE COMMON FATE OF MANY OTHER VICTIMS TOO "The consequences of the horrors that my children survived in Kosovo are still visible today. This has marked them for life," the mother of the girl, […]

s in Montenegro -

A ‘temporary’ landfill in the Montenegrin city of Niksic has been a money-spinner for the owner of the land and the local municipality, but at what cost to the environment and respect for the rules? When public authorities in the Montenegrin city of Niksic rented two hectares of land on Budos Hill in 2003 as […]

Small fines and a reluctance to pursue criminal prosecution have contributed to a culture of impunity for companies big and small that ignore the orders of environmental inspectors. By Jelena Jovanovic On November 7, 2013, environmental inspectors in Montenegro ordered local wine producer 13. jul-Plantaze to resolve the way it treats wastewater. Two years later, […]

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate on the internet based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region.   Our November Troll of the Month […]

Seven Montenegrin municipalities were offered multi-million-euro grants in 2012 to build essential wastewater treatment plants to prevent sewage polluting rivers and the sea, but no construction work has begun yet, and as years pass, the potential cost keeps rising. Rozaje was intended to be one of the first municipalities in Montenegro to get a wastewater […]

Reporting Diversity Network 2.0 is inviting CSOs; grass-root activists; human rights defenders; journalists; editors; to attend the Reporting Diversity training of trainers. The training will take place in Belgrade, between 11-13 November and will gather 30 participants from across the Western Balkans. The organisers will ensure all necessary epidemiological measures are followed. The participants will […]

If you are a young journalist in the Western Balkans, don’t miss this opportunity to produce a story that speaks to your generation. The ‘Media for All’ project is being delivered in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The aim of this media project is to strengthen the editorial independence of […]

DESPITE THE CLEAR MESSAGE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION THAT FOSSIL FUELS ARE THE PAST, AND THAT THE FUTURE IS RESERVED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND RENEWABLE ENERGY AND DESPITE BAD EXPERIENCES FROM THE REGION MONTENEGRO STARTED DRILLING THE ADRIATIC BOTTOM. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS ANNOUNCE THAT THE PROTESTS WILL BE CONTINUED AFTER THE TOURIST SEASON Branko Vujičić, an experienced […]