Ivana Živković, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director for Europe and the CIS, conducted a one-day visit to Montenegro on September 12-13, 2024, reinforcing UNDP’s commitment to supporting the country’s sustainable development and EU accession priorities.

During her time in Montenegro, UNDP RBEC Director Živković met with the Deputy Prime Minister Filip Ivanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović, and Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević. These meetings underscored the strong partnership between UNDP and Montenegro in areas that include human rights, gender equality, the green economy and public administration capacity building, underlining the importance of this collaboration and its alignment with Montenegro’s development goals.

In her discussions, UNDP RBEC Director Živković highlighted UNDP’s significant impact since 2006, with the implementation of $120 million worth development projects in Montenegro. A major focus of her visit was enhancing UNDP’s support to the Government in the implementation of the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans in UNDP’s areas of expertise such as human capital development, green just transition, digital transformation and private sector development . She stressed the complementary nature of EU accession and the Sustainable Development Agenda, pointing out that two-thirds of the measures under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are linked to EU negotiation chapters.