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DRPI Montenegro

Five people are at a circular table. A woman (site coordinator) is on the left and is writing. In the middle, there are two men (monitors), one of them holding an audio recorder. The monitors are talking to a man on the right (practice interviewee). Beside this man, is a woman (personal assistant)

Marina Vujačić, Executive Director of the Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro (left) takes notes while monitors practice conducting interviews.

From January 22nd to 30th, 2012, the Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro and the DRPI Europe Regional Centre co-hosted a seven-day training involving 21 Montenegrins with disabilities. The training was facilitated by regional and Montenegrin persons with disabilities who had participated in the DRPI Europe Regional Training held in Belgrade, Serbia in March 2011.

During the Opening Ceremony, Bengt Lindqvist, DRPI Co-Director and former UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, addressed participants via Skype. He provided an overview of how the DRPI project began and emphasized the importance of having persons with disabilities take the lead in monitoring their own rights.

Three people are at a circular table. At the left is a man (monitor) who is taking notes. In the middle is a woman (monitor) who is speaking to a man on the right (practice interviewee).

Two monitors (left and middle) are practising their monitoring skills.

During the training, participants learned how to use DRPI tools to collect information about the human rights experiences of persons with disabilities through face-to-face interviews and about disability-related laws, policies and programs. Participants also learned how to analyze and report on the information that they collect in order to make positive changes in their communities.  Ample time was given to practice using the tools so that participants would be ready to begin monitoring soon after the training. The process was aided by role playing and group discussions in an effort to keep the training as interactive as possible.

Following the training, participants returned to their home communities to begin the monitoring process. Pairs of trained monitors are now conducting interviews in three areas of the country: Bar, Podgorica and Bijelo Polje. At each place, there is also a Site Coordinator who is facilitating the process. In addition, a team of monitors is examining the laws, policies and programs of Montenegro to assess whether they adequately respect, protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities.

One woman and three men are facing each other in a circle, two standing, two seated

Natasa Borovic (left) speaks with her fellow Site Coordinators, Samir Guberinic (middle, facing) and Goran Macanovic (right, standing) as well as Milenko Vojičić, Project Coordinator (middle, back).

DRPI Montenegro Project Links