ROMACTED II: Municipality of Tivat awarded a grant of 15,000€.

The Municipality of Tivat has been awarded a grant of €15,000 as part of the second phase of the ROMACTED program, jointly financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe.

The project aims to improve local democracy, accountability, inclusiveness, and responsiveness to Roma citizens. In comparison to the first phase, implemented from 2017 to 2020, two new components focus on mitigating the effects of the Covid-19 virus in Roma communities and responsible budgeting towards Roma.

The project activities include:

• Engagement of individuals from Roma or Egyptian populations with secondary education for training in the Secretariat for Social Activities, which will involve acquiring knowledge and skills related to work in local government administration (office work, dealing with clients, computer work, etc.) and active participation in project activities (organization of workshops on realizing rights in social and child protection; health care; regularization of civil status; creation of promotional informational materials, etc.). The training will last for 4 months, and adequate compensation will be provided;
• Organization of 5 workshops on informing members of the Roma and Egyptian populations about resolving civil status, realizing rights in health care, and social and child protection rights;
• Production of promotional informational materials for the needs of workshops in languages understandable to members of these populations;
• Equipping an IT corner in the "Drago Milović" Elementary School with 10 laptops and a projector;
• Organization of a four-month computer training for students from the Roma-Egyptian community.

The period of the Covid-19 pandemic has particularly highlighted all the shortcomings of the education system and further influenced the exclusion of the Roma and Egyptian population. During the pandemic, when classes were held online, students from the Roma-Egyptian population were particularly disadvantaged because they mostly lacked the means to work (computers) and basic knowledge to operate them.

The Municipality of Tivat has been recognized as a local government actively involved in addressing issues in the social inclusion of the Roma and Egyptian population, especially in the field of education, considering it is the most important factor in quality integration into the broader social context.

Besides the capital city of Podgorica and the municipalities of Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Herceg Novi, Nikšić, and Ulcinj, Tivat is one of the eight municipalities that have signed the Memorandum of Cooperation for the first and second phases of the ROMACTED project.