Government contributes 1 million EUR to the Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund

Podgorica, 20 January 2023

The Government of Montenegro took a step closer to Agenda 2030 by endorsing the Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund and committing allocation of a million EUR into this new generation of financing tools aimed for pooling donor funds to be channelled towards development initiatives.

The UN-initiated Fund is designed to be major vehicle to support the country’s acceleration of Sustainable Development Goals implementation, as well as to support the country’s EU accession process.

By contributing to the Fund, Montenegro showed strong ownership over the implementation of Agenda 2030. According to Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, the Fund will be criticaly important for Montenegro's aspirations to meet country's commitments within the Agenda 2030.

“By supporting Agenda 2030, the Fund is a very important means of support to our EU integration process,” said Abazović, inviting bilateral partners to join the initiative and support the Fund.

Besides Government’s contribution, Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund also attracted financial support from several other countries, including Luxembourg and Switzerland.

UN Resident Coordinator Peter Lundberg welcomed signing of this UN-pooled pooled funding mechanism, emphasizing that it comes in critical moment.

“Government’s endorsement of this important vehicle for Montenegro’s development is a strong signal of country’s commitment to implementation of Agenda for Sustainable Development by 2030. With eight years left till fulfilment of this universal development plan, Montenegro needs all our support to succeed on this time critical endeavor,” said Lundberg, expressing hope that other partner countries will join the Fund in a quest for sustainable development of Montenegro.

As a booster to country’s development on its way to EU, the Fund is set to support strategic initiatives in three priority areas of the Cooperation Framework between Montenegro and the United Nations for the period 2023-27:

• inclusive economic development and environmental sustainability
• human capital development, reducing vulnerability, social inclusion
• social cohesion, people-centred governance, rule of law and human rights.

The Fund signed between the Government of Montenegro and the United Nations has been operational since the 1st January 2023, but the administrative and fundraising activities are ongoing for almost a year. It will be managed by the UN country team in close partnership with the Government, to secure full national commitment and long-term sustainability.