Response to COVID-19 at the heart of cooperation between Montenegro and the United Nations

The joint response to the crisis caused by the KOVID-19 epidemic was the central topic of the thirteenth meeting of the Joint Country Steering Committee which oversees the implementation of the Integrated UN Programme 2017-2021. The meeting of the body consisted of members of the UN Team in the country and representatives of eight line ministries was co-chaired by the Director General of the Directorate for Multilateral Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Veljko Milonjic and the Resident Coordinator of the UN System in Montenegro, Fiona McCluney.

Milonjić pointed out excellent cooperation and support of the UN System in numerous areas which are among top priorities development agenda of Montenegro .

In the new situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Montenegro especially values ​​support of the UN System aimed at providing an adequate response to the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic.

Veljko Milonjic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Milonjic expressed confidence that, based on practice and experiences so far, successful cooperation will be progressing further in the coming period which will also include development and implementation of a new strategic document UNDAF 2022-2026.

The participants discussed key results of cooperation between Montenegro and the UN system through the five-year framework, as well as future priorities, with special emphasis on the UN support to the urgent socio-economic response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro Fiona McCluney pointed out that, in the previous period, the UN System in Montenegro redirected its capacities and resources to provide support to the country in response to the pandemic.

We have reprogrammed almost all our resources and our planning activities towards enhancing support to the country in responding to the crisis. At the same time, our team worked intensively on collecting data on the impact of the crisis on vulnerable categories, what provided the basis for developing the Plan for urgent socio-economic response and support.

Fiona McCluney, UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro

McCluney emphasized that the Plan has been developed in line with the UN Framework for the Immediate Socio-economic response to COVID-19, a strategic document presented by the UN Secretary General as a roadmap for the United Nations to support states in social and economic recovery. 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.

Participants of the meeting agreed that the future priorities of cooperation will be focused on five key areas of the Plan for urgent socio-economic response and support: 1. strengthening the health care system; 2. assistance through social protection and basic services with a special focus on vulnerable categories; 3. preservation of jobs, support to small and medium enterprises, as well as workers in the informal sector through economic recovery programs; 4. recovery of the macroeconomic framework in order to foster sustainable development and strengthen multilateral and regional cooperation; and 5. strengthening social cohesion and resilience of local communities.