Young people need to recognize that Montenegro has become a NATO member so that they can live and develop in a secure country with much greater democratic capacity and in the best respect for human rights.
This was announced at the closing conference of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), which was organized as part of the project: "Let's take a stand for future perspectives: the Alliance of Youth and NATO".
CEDEM 's Director Milena Bešić emphasized that security is one of the basic prerequisites for the realization of democracy, the rule of law and human rights in every society. “Within the Security and Defense Program, CEDEM has implemented a number of projects on this topic over the course of 20 years. So, security, reforms of the security sector and in the period before accession, NATO integration, with a special focus on youth participation, ” Bešić said.
Minister of Defense, Predrag Bošković underlined that NATO is not only an army and security, but NATO is the most powerful military-political alliance and all member states have very developed national standards.
"Young people need to recognize that Montenegro became a member of NATO in 2017, primarily because of them. We made that decision so that they could live in a peaceful environment, that they could create families, work and develop in a safe, non-war, and much more democratic state, a state that would in the best way to respect human rights, ”Bošković said.
Lecturer in Humanities Studies at the University of Donja Gorica (UDG), Nikoleta Đukanović, emphasized that security challenges today are very complex, there are many, and they are difficult to predict.
"It is for this reason that it's important to emphasize and explain as much as possible NATO's role in the process of meeting security challenges. Youth education is especially important after Montenegro's accession to NATO, as the role of NATO education after accession is often overlooked, considering that this process is over, ” Đukanović explained.
Project Coordinator and CEDEM Program Manager Ognjen Marković said that the first and key activity of the project was campaigning on social networks. "The entire project team has been deeply engaged in ways to bring NATO's theme closer to young people through numerous visuals, posters, videos and animations.
After that, one of the most successful activities started, which is to spend time with the ambassadors of NATO member states with young people, "Marković said. He said that four events were held, attended by over 130 young people, representatives of the US Department of Defense and Embassies, the United Kingdom, Poland and Bulgaria.
"We also implemented a three-day school for young people: "Youth in Contemporary Security Challenges: What lies ahead? ", Which took place in June in Petrovac and brought together about 30 representatives of youth organizations, non-governmental organizations, the judiciary, prosecutors, and also state institutions in the field of security, "Marković said.
He said that in addition to the above activities, a set of interactive "Alliance for the 21st Century" workshops were also held in high schools in Mojkovac, Niksic, Podgorica, Kolašin and Bijelo Polje, as well as a set of interviews "NATO - Shared Values and Participation!" those who are not in the security field themselves but who could tell what NATO membership meant to them and what it brought to them, such as poets, fashion designers, painters and the like.
The project: "Let's Take a Stance for Future Perspectives: the Alliance of Youth and NATO", is implemented by CEDEM, in collaboration with the PR Center and ATAK, and funded by the NATO Alliance's Department of Public Diplomacy.