Revisions to the Law on Administrative Procedure will allow children to participate in legal proceedings and facilitate the creation of foster care and adoption centers. These initiatives are among the objectives outlined in the Draft Strategy for the Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence for the years 2025 to 2029, which is set to be announced in the third quarter of this year.

Furthermore, by the fourth quarter, the implementation of the “Barnahus” (Children’s House) service, aimed at supporting children who are victims of violence, will commence. A budget of 450 thousand euros has been earmarked for this initiative.

The Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography has prepared the draft strategy and its accompanying Action Plan for 2025-2026. According to this document, enhancing the implementation of regulations, improving family and social protection services, and ensuring a better response from the justice, education, and healthcare systems will help Montenegro to strengthen its national prevention efforts and provide an adequate response to all forms of violence against children.

Two strategic goals are defined in the document: empowering both boys and girls to assert their rights and take active roles in living free from violence in both familial and societal settings, as well as enhancing prevention and protection measures for all children across various sectors.

These strategic aims will be pursued through six operational objectives. The first involves raising awareness and shifting social attitudes that permit or promote violence against children, particularly among vulnerable groups. To support this initiative, plans are in place to create a dedicated website that will share essential information about recognizing and reporting peer violence.

Additionally, one of the targets is to decrease the number of “mothers/caregivers who believe that physical punishment is necessary” from the current rate of 29% in 2018 down to 5% by 2029.

The second operational objective focuses on cultivating a safe environment for children at home, in educational institutions, within society, and online while enhancing children’s resilience. Key initiatives include organizing competitions to foster children’s and youth culture, conducting research on the risks, prevalence, and impact of child sexual abuse and online violence in Montenegro, and developing a website platform for reporting inappropriate online content as part of the international INHOPE network.

Activities to achieve this goal also include enhancing the operation and promotion of SOS lines for children and parents and increasing the participation of fathers and members of vulnerable groups in the “Caring Families” program.

Additionally, plans are in place to establish three day care centers for at-risk children.

Concerning the enhancement of the legal framework for addressing violence and child protection, the document indicates that changes to the Law on Administrative Procedure will be initiated in the third quarter of this year to enable children to act as parties in legal proceedings.

Moreover, it is noted that updates will be made to the Standard Operating Procedures regarding the treatment of migrant and refugee children and victims of human trafficking, as well as the guidelines for cases of child marriage.

The document also mentions the anticipated establishment of a foster care center and the development of regulations governing its operations. The “home help” service for children whose parents cannot care for them will be expanded throughout Montenegro, while both drop-in and day care services will be launched.

One of the operational goals is to develop a data collection, monitoring, evaluation, and research system, which will include improvements to the mandatory registration process within the electronic health system and protocols for managing cases of violence against children.

According to the document, there are plans to enhance the electronic reporting system for incidents of violence against children in educational settings and to develop a module for reporting such cases within the electronic health system.

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