Podgorica, February 17, 2022 – The United Nations Program in Montenegro (UNDP) and Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG) will engage in joint activities to contribute to the improvement of gender equality and strengthening the capacity of the Public Broadcasting Service for gender-responsible communication. An important part of this partnership, which is also supported by the European Union, will be continuous education and strengthening the capacities of all RTCG employees.

The joint activities have been defined by a joint agreement, signed today by the UNDP Resident Representative for Montenegro, Daniela Gašparikova, and the Director General of RTCG, Boris Raonić.

Inequalities, gender stereotypes, deep-rooted prejudices and patriarchal patterns thrive in social structures, and the media have the power and potential to promote or combat them. In this sense, the Public Broadcasting Service has been recognized as an important and responsible partner in promoting a culture of tolerance and gender equality in public discourse.

This is the goal of the project “Communicating Gender Equality“, which UNDP is implementing in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights and the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, and which is funded by the European Union.

UNDP Resident Representative Daniela Gašparikova said that the media are a mirror of society and, at the same time, have the power to shape its attitudes.

“Montenegro has already chosen to be committed to respecting human rights, which include gender equality. That is why it is important that the media include the principle of gender equality in their daily work and thus fight against discrimination. RTCG, as a public broadcasting service of all citizens, has an additional obligation to promote human rights and gender equality as basic principles of democracy. This must not only stem from a legal obligation, but from the essential need of all those who shape the work of the Public Broadcasting Service to create media content that reflects different needs and perspectives of men and women equally and to point out behaviors that do not comply with human rights standards,“ Gašparikova said.

RTCG Director General, Boris Raonić, pointed out that the agreed activities include not only educating employees in the Public Broadcasting Service regarding gender equality, but also working on improving the Code of Ethics and improving the Public Broadcasting Service program.

“We look forward to cooperation with the UNDP, and the series of activities will be proof that the Public Broadcasting Service, and I hope the entire society, will put an end to things from our tradition that have no place in the 21^st century,“ he said.

Riccardo Serri, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation, said that achieving gender equality as a fundamental value of the EU was the ambition of the member states.

“There is a lot to do to achieve full equality. The situation has greatly improved in recent years when it comes to gender equality, and the same can be said for the situation in Montenegro. However, it is far from full equality and much remains to be done. This is a partnership with the Montenegrin Public Broadcasting Service so that media employees can be trained on gender equality issues and thus fully contribute to gender issues in society“, Serri concluded.