President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ivan Brajović today has opened the 12th session of the Women’s Parliament, which addressed the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality 13 years after its adoption.
President Brajović emphasised that normatively a lot has been done since the restoration of independence. “All of us have been maturing as a society and changed the legislative framework in line with the changing reality in Montenegro. Today, we understand how important it is, in addition to adopting good laws, to analyse and implement them, to improve them if we find that they are not effective enough. An example of such improvement is the Law on the Election of Councillors and MPs, which has been amended several times in a decade, and thanks to this, we have almost 30% of women in the Parliament today. Over the past year, we had the opportunity to increase the legal minimum to 40% by including the requirements of the Women’s Political Network in the new bill. Unfortunately, the lack of two-thirds majority for the adoption of this law, due to political calculations, also affect women's political participation. Such examples also clearly show the priorities of some political actors and their understanding of this socially and politically important goal”, the President of the Parliament emphasised and said that this should certainly not prevent us from showing in practice that we provide equal opportunities in politics for men and women:
"As President of the Social Democrats, I am proud that our candidate list for Tivat local elections has 50% women. We may not have yet reached this level for all party lists in all Montenegrin municipalities and at the national level, but I believe that Tivat is a good example to all of us to constantly increase this percentage. And not only because of the percentages, but because I am convinced that every policy, every activity implemented at any level is better, more quality and more comprehensive, if both women and men are involved. In this way, through different perspectives we come up with the best and long-term sustainable solutions“.
President Brajović also spoke about the Gender Equality Index, which was recently calculated in Montenegro for the first time by UNDP in cooperation with the Statistical Office. "Bearing in mind that the value of the Montenegrin index is 55, unlike the European Union average of 67.4 points, and considering that the index monitors the progress in overcoming inequality in six important areas: work, money, knowledge, time, power and health - it's clear what our job is. When we create a society where women are economically empowered, when they have equal access to health and social services, and knowledge and decision-making positions - we will fully use potentials of the development potential of the whole society. The Parliament of Montenegro will continue to contribute to these processes”, President Brajović concluded.
On this occasion, he also expressed his respect for the anti-fascist movement on whose values modern Montenegro is based and which historically has done the most for the emancipation of women. “Because of all these women, heroines of ours and some other times, who defended and built Montenegro, we are obliged to foster values of freedom, equality and solidarity. The achievements of anti-fascists - women and men - were also based on understanding the importance of true equality through women's education, economic independence, the right to vote in elections and in all other fields”, President Brajović stressed.
I would also like to warn that, as a society, we have to resist the dangers of returning to conservative discourse, which occasionally imposes a political moment. History shows that whenever the community is tempted by anti-modernism and false traditional values, it comes to a halt to progress where the highest price is paid by democracy. Going back is easy, and we know how difficult it can be to take an emancipatory step forward, especially when it comes to women's rights. Please don't let that happen.
For the sake of the future of our children, we are committed to creating a society where modern day democratic achievements and values make women and men essentially equal. We should share our responsibility in creating a democratic, progressive, civic, anti-fascist and European Montenegro" - the President of the Parliament of Montenegro pointed out at the end of his speech.
Speech by President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ivan Brajović
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