Constitution of Montenegro guarantees the right to work to every citizen. Further study shows that the government of Montenegro, during the period from 2009 to 2015, caused damage to persons with disabilities on basis of employment in the amount of €34.5 million, which should be paid for professional rehabilitation and employment of these persons.
At the end of 2007, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare adopted a Strategy for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities in Montenegro for the period from 2008 to 2016. The main objective of the Strategy was to improve the situation of persons with disabilities and their inclusion in all areas of society on an equal basis. In legal terms, this was the first step towards improving their position in society.
The Parliament of Montenegro adopted the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities in mid-2008,[3] which formally obliged the state to create conditions for increasing employment of persons with disabilities and their equal participation in the labor market, by removing barriers and creating equal opportunities for employment. The Law prescribed establishment of the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, to which employers would pay a special contribution on the basis of their employment. Apart from Fund, Employment Agency of Montenegro and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare would be in charge of enforcement of this law.
Although the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in 2008, over the following six years, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare did not adopt the appropriate by-laws for its implementation. Not before the mid-2014, the Ministry adopted the Regulations on the Procedure and Methodology for Grant Funding Schemes, which established the means of allocating funds for projects to legal entities and individuals from the budget of the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities.
Based on the Regulations issued in November 2014, the Employment Agency of Montenegro announced a public call for project proposals for professional rehabilitation, active employment policies and employment of persons with disabilities, for which it has allocated €1 million, although the Law on Budget of Montenegro for 2014. allocated two million euros for the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation.According to criteria of the public announcement, individual projects could be financed in the amount of €10 thousand to €70 thousand, with a period of no longer than 10 months. It was expected that at least 400 persons with disabilities would be included in the employment projects.
A total of 58 bidders applied to the public announcement (local governments, public institutions, the Archdiocese, businesses and non-governmental organizations) with projects of a total value of €2,613,231.23. In late February 2015, the Management Board of the Employment Agency of Montenegro adopted a Decision on Granting Non-Refundable Funds to finance a total of 19 projects in the amount of €998,789.06.
Employment Agency of Montenegro granted financing of only 19 project proposals
Among the projects that were supported are project of the “Savez Slijepih Crne Gore” (Blind Union of Montenegro), which was allocated €66,000 for “Improving Labor Market Access for Visually Impaired People”, then the Municipality of Berane with “Give Us a Chance”, which was allocated nearly €35 thousand, “Udruzenje paraplegicara Bijelo Polje i Mojkovac” (Association of Paraplegics Bijelo Polje and Mojkovac) with “Protective Workshop – Golden Hands” with €48,000 and “Assistance in the Classroom for Children with Developmental Disorders” by NGO “Staze”, which was supported with €68,000.
Out of this number, 31 projects, with a total value of €1,311,148.17 (half the value of projects submitted) were not approved, despite the fact they were deemed eligible for funding. At the same time, eight projects worth €303,294 were rejected as not justified.
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