Dear Mr Serri,

Dear Mr Janjusevic,

Distinguished  presidents and vice-presidents of partner municipalities, members of the Partner Board and representatives of non-governmental organisations,

It is a great honour for me to open today's ReLOaD conference, from which, above all, we expect the exchange of knowledge and best practices on cooperation between municipalities and non-governmental organisations.

We have achieved significant results in the first phase of ReLOaD. More than 5,000 citizens of Montenegro benefited directly from the projects, while five municipalities improved the legal framework and practices for the transparent allocation of funds to NGOs, through the adoption of amendments or completely new municipal decisions.

With the new cycle of ReLOaD, we continued to strengthen the capacities of local self-governments and non-governmental organisations, to make the creation and implementation processes of local policies completely oriented towards the needs of citizens. New partner municipalities have been included, so instead of the five municipalities that participated in the first phase, we are now working with five clusters consisting of 15 municipalities from all over the country.

In addition, we really look forward to the second phase of ReLOaD which brings a youth component. We have a special budget line for newly founded NGOs and NGOs that work with young people, as we are carrying out numerous activities to strengthen youth activism, such as training programmes, workshops, first work practices and thematic forums, adapted to young residents of all fifteen municipalities separately.

We have mapped a large number of examples of funding initiatives of non-governmental organisations, which will be presented today as positive practices and promoted as possible models of action for other municipalities as well. This is the true treasure of Montenegro it can boast with even outside its borders.

We will also present all the project ideas of non-governmental organisations, funded through ReLOaD, which will make our communities stronger and more open for citizens, especially for the most vulnerable fellow citizens and young people. We have 35 projects that offer different contents:

·         from testing catapults and tubing on the Zeta River as part of innovating the tourist offer

·         through the first Club for people with disabilities in Niksic

·         to the promotion of new attractive hiking trails on Bjelasica with the help of geocaching tags

However, this is not where we stop! We will continue to provide even stronger support for strengthening the dialogue between local self-governments and non-governmental organisations and youth, and their joint initiatives. Because that is how we see communities open to all people - open, adaptable and creative.

Hence our vision was to gather you, distinguished participants from local self-governments and the non-governmental sector, today, to present the best practices that can be successfully replicated, to discuss the topic of joint cooperation and local initiatives and to define specific directions of action at the local level.

In this way, we will contribute to the achievement of global, national and local development goals and ultimately – happier and more satisfied women and men in local communities.

I invite you all to help achieve this synergy today, as I believe that we are ready to continue to strengthen the capacities and develop local democracy in Montenegro together.