Institute Alternative continues successful implementation of Public Policy School with the support of the Commission for Allocation of Revenue from Games of Chance. We obtained funding for the fifth year in a row while our proposal received the highest number of points by the selection committee within the category “Non-Formal Education of Children and Youth”.
Montenegrin accession negotiations are moving towards a stage where national co-ordination and policy capacities need to be systematic and thorough. Public policies must not be deficient in substance, need to be consistent with one another as well as economically efficient and financially sustainable. Additionally, proper implementation and monitoring of policies need to be ensured.
However, problems in this area remain numerous starting from weak capacities of the Government to scrutinize draft policies and judge whether they meet previous commitments. Additionally, sectoral strategies are developed incoherently and often lack costing or a link to the medium-term expenditure framework, therefore putting at risk their future implementation. Moreover, ministries focus on the implementation of policies while relatively low number of civil servants works on policy analysis and development. Furthermore, there are major weaknesses in implementation of inter-ministerial and public consultations. These claims are confirmed by the European Commission in its latest progress report for Montenegro.
With the aim of addressing such shortcomings in the work of the Montenegrin public administration, we have been implementing this programme for four years. We wish to ensure that current and future actors of public policy creation and implementation process gain necessary knowledge and skills, but also to enable communication and cooperation between different sectors and institutions. We believe it is important to strengthen capacities of public administration because the system of policy creation severely impacts opportunities for development and the character of economic growth of a society.
More than 90 participants have successfully completed the programme thus far, out of which the largest number are civil servants – 37%. Additionally, we published the collection of papers entitled “Public Policies” in which five authors from the perspective of different disciplines analyze the concept and key elements of public policy. Furthermore, the School is licensed as the official programme for the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the field of public policy by the National Council for Education of Montenegro.
The call for participants of the Fifth Generation of Public Policy School will be announced in the second half of 2016.
Milica MILONJIĆ
Public Policy Researcher
