Existence of a national strategy

There is no specific National strategy on youth volunteering in Montenegro. Until now there was two regognized document which were in line with youth volunteering National Strategy for Volunteerism Development (2010-2015).

The Youth Strategy 2017-2021 (Strategija za mlade 2017-2021), adopted by the Government of Montenegro in September 2016, introduces a set of measures for improvement of youth volunteering. Action plans for the implementation of the strategy were adopted and implemented for 2017, 2018 and 2019. Currently, the two-year Action Plan 2020-2021 for the implementation of the strategy is in force.

Scope and contents

It is recognised in the Youth Strategy that volunteerism is not that well developed among youth and that young people participate in volunteering principally through the activities of NGOs. Therefore, it states that the mechanisms for youth volunteering should be improved within the formal education system and other environments. It is acknowledged that it is necessary to promote the system of values of volunteerism and how both the individuals and the state can benefit from volunteering.

The Youth Strategy defines six key priorities – key outcomes – concerning Montenegrin youth, and some of them include measures on volunteering, specifically Key Outcome C: “Young people are active citizens, involved, motivated, proactive and participating in decision-making and community development processes, in the creation of policies and their implementation.” The focus of the youth policy regarding this outcome is on “putting in place mechanisms/systems for fostering activism: so that activism can become a value that is systematically fostered, prised and promoted among youth; so that institutional mechanisms for participation in public decision making can be made more approachable and more adequate to young people; and to foster and promote volunteerism”.

The Youth Strategy has planned, as one of its main desired outcomes, that young people have access to quality cultural content as creators and consumers. To achieve this, it proposes supporting the young creators of culture and media content and developing volunteering in cultural institutions, festivals and manifestations. The strategy recognises that young people have limited access to mentors and role models in the domain of culture, and that the culture and practice of volunteering would enable young people to gain certain knowledge, skills and experience.

The strategy does not contain objectives or measures relevant to inclusive volunteering and it does not identify any specific target groups within the youth population whose participation in voluntary activities should be fostered.

Responsible authority

Until 2020, the ministry responsible for the implementation, co-ordination and monitoring of the National Youth Strategy was the Ministry of Sports and Youth. In 2020, based on the Decree on the State Administration’s Organisation and Manner of Work (Uredba o organizaciji i načinu rada državne uprave) (“Official Gazette of Montenegro”, Nos. 118/2020, 121/2020, 1/2021 and 2/2021), the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Sports and Youth Directorate took over the responsibilities in the area of youth policy. According to this The Government of Montenegro adopted the Decree on the Organization and Mode of Work of the State Administration ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", No. 049/22 of 06.05.2022, 052/22 of 13.05.2022, 056/22 of 27.05.2022), which re-established the Ministry of Sports and Youth as the authority responsible for the field of youth.

As yet, there have been five reports on realisation of action plans for implementation of the Youth Strategy for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. The reports include information on monitoring of the implementation of activities concerning youth volunteering.

Revisions/updates

It is to be noted that the National Youth Strategy does not recognise volunteering as one of the key priorities, contrary to the previous National Youth Action Plan 2006-2011 , which had a clear focus on volunteering. The previous youth strategy had objectives connected to the promotion of volunteering, creating an environment for it, and supporting youth volunteering, including intergenerational solidarity and inclusion. The importance of youth volunteering was also recognised by the National Strategy for Volunteerism Development 2010-2015.

There is no national strategy which cover youth volunteering.