At its Tenth Meeting held today, the Gender Equality Committee considered the Proposal for the 2018 Budget Law of Montenegro, in part relating to the following consumer units: Ministry of Human and Minority Rights - Programme 3: Achieving gender equality and Programme 4: Improving the situation of the RAE population; Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare - Program 3: Centres for Social Services, Programme 5: Social, Veterans' and Disability Rights; Institute for Social and Child Welfare and Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro.
During the discussion, the Committee noted that the budget lines for funding the activities from the Plan of Action for Gender Equality (PAPRR) 2017 – 2021 and Action Plan for Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 were not visible in Proposal for the Law, and that it made the manner of their consideration difficult from the aspect of competencies of the Gender Equality Committee. Furthermore, the Committee noted that it was necessary for the Government of Montenegro to make an effort in order to enable monitoring of the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality, primarily Articles 3 and 14, through the Law on Final Budget Statement for 2017, and also to plan the budget for 2017 in a manner that would recognise expenditures for activities from the field of gender equality.
The Committee unanimously supported the Proposal for the 2018 Budget Law of Montenegro, and proposed to the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget, as the lead committee, to propose to the Parliament of Montenegro to adopt the Proposal for the 2018 Budget Law of Montenegro.
The Committee meeting was attended by: Mr Nikola Vukićević, Director General of Directorate for Budget at the Ministry of Finance and his associated Ms Tamara Ivković, coordinator at the Directorate for Budget and Ms Aleksandra Marković, independent advisor in the Directorate for Budget, Ms Biljana Pejović, Head of Department for Gender Equality Affairs at the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Mr Goran Kuševija, Director General of Directorate for Social Welfare and Child Protection at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Ivan Krkeljić, Secretary General at the Institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, and Ms Aida Nuhodžić, independent adviser for finances and accounting at the Institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms.
