Deputy Secretary General of the Parliament of Montenegro Ms Marija Mirjačić took part in Regional Seminar on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), held in Belgrade on 24 and 25 May, and co-organised by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. (IPU).
The topic of the seminar was: Parliamentary cooperation for sustainable development: Combating poverty and promoting health-care, with the participation of parliaments from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Ms Maja Gojković, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, opened the seminar, by saying that parliaments and governments should work jointly on implementing the goals aimed at decreasing poverty, improving the quality of education, improving health of citizens and creating stronger infrastructure. Ms Gojković particularly stressed the experience of the National Assembly of Serbia in overseeing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
On day one, the following topics were covered: priorities of the states in the region regarding the implementation of 2030 Agenda, parliamentary oversight over the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, poverty reduction and improving the position of marginalised groups, and improving and promoting health-care. During the discussion, the experiences of several countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda were presented as well as its adaptation through the adoption of national sustainable development strategies. Also, IPU self-assessment toolkit for parliaments was discussed and good practices of parliaments that were involved in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in various ways. Parliamentarians also shared their views on the possibilities for improving health care through the legislative framework and better implementation.
Within the session on poverty reduction, a special attention was devoted to possibilities for improving the social position of marginalised groups and combating discrimination. Deputy Secretary General of the Parliament of Montenegro Ms Marija Mirjačić highlighted the global problem of homelessness and child begging, as phenomena that require a strong interinstitutional approach to find long-term solutions. Also, she noted that not only direct consequences should be addressed, but also deeply rooted causes leading to long-term poverty. As an example of good practice, she reminded of provisions of the Montenegrin Law on Social and Child Welfare, which recognises special protection for a wide range of sensitive categories.
On day two of the seminar, MPs talked about the impact of climate changes on poverty and public health, as well as on inclusion of youth in social and political processes as a prerequisite for an efficient SDGs implementation. During the discussion, the importance of climate change was emphasised, especially in the part of weather disasters that can have a devastating impact on the economy of the state, but also on the long-term health of the population. When it comes to the youth participation in the decision-making process, good practices were presented at the national and local level, and stressed that young people should be given greater access to decision-making, but also that young people must engage more in order to make their voice stronger in the political space.
In the final part of the seminar, IPU Global Parliamentary Report 2017 on Parliamentary oversight: Parliament’s power to hold government to account was presented.
