Anti-Discrrimination Council discusses LGBT rights, inslusive education

Podgorica, Montenegro (21 December 2013) – Anti-Discrrimination Council of Montenegro, chaired by Prime Minister and President of the Council Milo Đukanović, discussed on Friday afternoon several issues within the scope of its work.

The Council was informed about the activities implemented by the Education Ministry in the field of non-discrimination in education for some vulnerable groups such as students with special educational needs, Roma and Egyptian, and LGBT population. The Council encouraged the continuation of the efforts aimed at creating an environment without social exclusion and other forms of discriminatory treatment. The Council concluded that dedicated and responsible attitude and cooperation of all relevant entities should be continued with a view to building a society based on democratic values, such as tolerance, participation, respect for human rights and dignity.

The Council recognised the efforts that have been made towards adopting and implementing international laws and standards into national legislation, particularly in the area of harmonisation of national legislation with the EU acquis, which has contributed to the improvement of LGBT rights in Montenegro. The establishment of such a normative framework has created an environment that will respect differences and allow LGBT people to have equal opportunity to participate in the society.

The Council supported the continuation of programme and project activities that will contribute to improving rights of LGBT people through implementing measures from the LGBT Strategy. For the purpose of adequate monitoring the LGBT Strategy’s implementation, a working group was set up. The group is composed of representatives of the ministries of human and minority rights, labour and social welfare, health, justice, education, home affairs, Youth and Sports Directorate, Police Administration, as well as representatives of NGO LGBT Forum Progress and Institute for Social Inclusion. Advisor to Prime Minister for Human Rights and the Protection against Discrimination was appointed Coordinator of the working group.

Inclusive Education Strategy for the period 2014-2018 was also on the Council’s meeting agenda. The Council welcomed a broad participatory process undertaken in order to prepare a quality strategy document which will be a guideline for further work in this area. At the same time, the Council affirmed the activity of the UNICEF Office in Montenegro, the NGOs and all stakeholders who have supported the designing of the document and encouraged them to work constructively towards adopting and implementing the priority tasks.