In order to contribute to the promotion and protection of Roma and Egyptian (RE) rights at the local level in Montenegro, this project fosters active civil society participation through a comprehensive approach, which includes: capacity building for civil society organisations, organisational development and operation, project management cycle, human rights monitoring and advocacy, as well as financial support for the implementation of local CSO initiatives. Put simply, the project aims to encourage CSOs to be the drivers of change in the promotion of RE rights.

The project introduced a grant scheme entitled “Support to projects of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Montenegro” worth €13,321.44. These small grants intended for initiatives by RE civil society organisations enabled the implementation of projects relevant to local Roma and Egyptian communities and at the same time facilitated capacity building for small-scale CSOs through training, mentoring and practical application of acquired knowledge.

The project also focused on encouraging active participation of RE women and RE youth in public life. By developing RE women’s groups and organising a series of roundtable discussions with relevant stakeholders, RE women were given an opportunity to raise issues that affect their lives. In addition, social inclusion of RE youth was improved through a series of different activities.

The implementation of this project and its grant scheme is directly related to the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 and applicable national strategies, including the Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians (2016-2020) and the Youth Strategy (2017-2021).