UN convenes partners for joint support to socio-economic recovery of Montenegro

The response to the socio-economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 was at the focus of the meeting of representatives of the Government and the National Coordination Body with the United Nations team in Montenegro. The meeting convened by the UN was attended by representatives of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, as well as representatives of international financial institutions: World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Monetary Fund.

Participants discussed current situation and key priorities including analysing and addressing the social consequences of the epidemic and supporting the macroeconomic measures and policies.

Head of the National Coordination Body, Deputy Prime Minister Milutin Simović pointed out that Montenegro can be satisfied with what has been done in facing this challenge.

We have achieved the goals - we have preserved our health system, lowered the "curve" of the number of patients and preserved the overall stability of our society. We achieved this thanking to decisive, timely and uncompromising measures based solely on the requirements and recommendations of the health experts.

Milutin Simović Head of the National Coordination Body and Deputy Prime Minister

Simović emphasized that the months ahead will not be less challenging, because in the shortest possible time it is necessary to find a formula for preventing possible second wave of the epidemic and at the same time ensuring the economic growth, preservation of jobs of and quality of life for all citizens. He pointed out that pace, knowledge, efficiency, determination and, above all, concreteness are needed for this phase.

"In the short term, we must make decisions that will bring results in the long run," said Simović adding that the implementation of agreed activities must begin quickly in order to shorten the period between quarantine and rebound in revenue and standards for our economies, our companies and all our citizens

The UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro, Fiona McCluney, said that every crisis is also a chance to build a better society.

It is clear that the health crisis is transforming into a serious socio-economic crisis, and that is why we are here today - to jointly consider an effective response to that challenge.

Fiona McCluney, UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro

"The support of the UN System in Montenegro will be based on the United Nations Framework for Immediate Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19 recently presented by the UN Secretary General as a roadmap to support countries in social and economic recovery," McCluney said, adding the recovery plan will be jointly implemented by UN teams in 162 countries over the next 12-18 months, under the leadership of UN Resident Coordinators and with the support and technical guidance of UNDP.

The UN Framework for Immediate Socio-Economic Response will focus on five key streams in its response: 1. protecting existing health services and strengthening health systems; 2. helping people through social protection; 3. protecting jobs, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and informal sector workers through economic recovery programmes; 4. guiding the necessary surge in fiscal and financial stimulus to make macroeconomic policies work for the most vulnerable and strengthening multilateral and regional responses; and 5. promoting social cohesion and investing in community-led resilience and response systems.

In this context, joint coordination was agreed for further response to the socio-economic consequences of the epidemic, which includes broad consensus and involves international organizations, international financial institutions as well as social partners.

Photo Gallery