Strengthening capacities in advocacy and preparation of policies of the Coalition of NGOs in the field of health and social exclusion

Monitoring Center in cooperation with Juventas and Cazasu implementing a project which aims to contribute to the strengthening of advocacy and oversight functions of the civil society in Montenegro in order to influence the action of the Coalition policy and legislation in the field of health and social issues. The specific objective is to develop the capacity for policy of the Coalition for Social Change and its members for evidence based advocacy within the Strategy for Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction (SSSS).

Civil society organizations active in the field of Health and Social Welfare participate in the preparation and writing of strategic documents and to make their contribution was a greater need to enhance their capacities in this area.

The coalition is open and can not access all interested civil society organizations dealing with the problems related to poverty reduction in Montenegro, and social inclusion. Organizations that are in the first round are invited to become members of the Coalition are leaders of civil society in the areas of health, education, social protection and the fight against unemployment:

1. Montenegrin Association for Fight against Cancer
2. Pedagogical Center
3. Center for Civic Education
4. Ekvista
5. Roma Scholarship Foundation
6. Association of parents of children with special needs

Each Representative organizations will have their place in the working group that will deal with a specific problem-whole Strategies for reducing poverty and social exclusion.

Project activities

Members of the Coalition will undergo vocational training through organized training in the following areas:

1. Writing EU projects, Podgorica
2. evidence based advocacy, Podgorica
3. Advanced level ‘representation based on facts”, Sarajevo
4. Writing effective public policy papers, Belgrade

The project will monitor the implementation of the SSSS, opinion polls, as well as preparation of studies to promote the implementation of SSSS. Each organization will have its representative in the working groups that will be responsible for writing the study. Each working group will correspond to a particular problem-the whole e-SSSS. Prepared study will be presented to the public at an open panel discussions, and at the same time will be printed and distributed in Montenegro.

Manual for non-profit organizations “Advocacy change in public policy”.