Komunumo is a digital platform for learning the language of destination country, evaluation of level of language knowledge, including the data base of all migrants with the knowledge of certain language level along with the information about their education level and working experience in order to increase the chance for their employment, promoting social inclusion of that, discriminated, group of our community.
National
Montenegro
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It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Zoran Last name: Mastilović Gender: Male Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: NVO GLAS is non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in Podgorica in June 2020 by enthusiastic people that have a vision to improve entire society through the improvement of skills, and promoting lifelong learning for all.
The goals of the organization are:
- Improving the position of young people and working on resolving issues that concern them, through
non-formal forms of education;
- Promotion and encouragement of entrepreneurship development;
- Promotion and encouragement of environmental awareness and solving environmental problems;
- Encouraging international cooperation and exchange;
- Prevention of all forms of violence.
As NVO GLAS was founded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has started implementing workshops in mid-September 2020. Since then it held a lot of workshops in the areas of: human rights, anti-discrimination, non-violence, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, youth policies and strategies
for youth, healthy lifestyles and initiatives of interest to youth, peace and peace policies. Activities of NVO GLAS encourage young people to research, collect and analyze data, travel and learn about new cultures as well as develop their entrepreneurial ideas.
NVO GLAS always chooses socially important problems and for the employment useful techniques for topics of its activities. It’s activities are led by people who, in addition to formal competencies, also have life and business experience in that area.
NVO GLAS is also active in youth policy development. It participated in the writing of amendment to the Proposal for the 2021 Budget Law of Montenegro, which Montenegro’s parliament approved on June 17, 2021. By that amendment it initiated obtaining symbolic support to newly established organizations dealing with youth issues because Law on Non-Governmental Organizations doesn’t prescribed equal conditions in regard to long- standing organizations for grant applying.
NVO GLAS has been a partner organization in implementation of the project „Halting and Mitigating the Impacts of Hydropower in the Western Balkans“ supported by WWF Adria. It is also a partner organization in implementation of two Erasmus+, 24 months lasting, projects - “Critical thinking and participation as a foundation of democracy in Europe” and “Eco-Entrepreneurship & Circular Economy:
On the Path to Sustainable Change”.
Core team of NVO GLAS is working on development of social entrepreneurship idea called Komunumo (www.komunumo.app).
NVO GLAS is an associate member of the Youth Network of Montenegro (Mreža za mlade Crne Gore). Age: 30 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Montenegro Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Danila Kisa 5 Town: Podgorica Postal code: 81000 Country: Montenegro Direct Tel:+382 68 321 086 E-mail:komunumo.cg@gmail.com Website:https://komunumo.app/
Today, more than ever people don't live in the country where they were born due to different reasons: some because of searching for better living conditions while others trying to avoid various conflicts. UN member states adopted a set of rules, known as the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (A/RES/71/1), which acknowledges the positive contribution of migrants to sustainable and inclusive development.
Although Montenegro is a transit destination for migrants characterized by the problem of "brain drain", due to the escalation of the migrant, COVID-19 and Ukrainian crises, it is gradually transforming from a transit country into a destination under the name - a country for migrants.
In that case, Montenegro would face a huge and terrifying challenge - to provide all necessary conditions for the normal life of migrants.
According to the results of the research we conducted on a sample of 103 respondents from 13 countries, we came to the conclusion that the problems faced by migrants in the country of destination are the language barrier, inability of employment, unresolved housing issue, inability to access local services, inability to raise children normally and cultural differences that lead to prejudice and isolation.
Since Montenegro is not a multilingual country, the main problem is the language barrier.
Komunumo is a digital platform for learning the language of the destination country, evaluation of language skills, including the data base of all migrants with the knowledge of a certain language level along with the information about their level of education and work experience in order to increase the chance for their employment. So it would provide digital language learning and employment services for migrants.
The entire work on the platform, according to the importance of data privacy and application security, will be aligned with International ISO standards (ISO 27001) in order to protect our users and their information.
Diversity
Education
Inclusion
Mobilization
Employment
UN member states adopted a set of commitments, known as the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (A/RES/71/1), which acknowledges the positive contribution of migrants to sustainable and inclusive development, and commits to protecting the safety, dignity and human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migratory status. Inspired by The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which recognizes the contribution of migration to sustainable development, our Komunumo team decided to choose migrants as our target group. 11 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain targets and indicators relevant to migration or mobility. The Agenda's core principle is to "leave no one behind," not even migrants. Ignoring the evidence and facts and stating that migration and migrants pose a threat to security and safety, populism often encourages the development of xenophobic feelings in society, which significantly undermines the foundations of basic human rights and European values that Montenegrin society strive for as every democratic society. To escape the problem of undermining of the foundations of basic human rights Montenegro has to solve key problems faced by migrants during their stay in Montenegro (language barriers, employment opportunities, housing, access to local services, cultural differences, raising children, prejudice, isolation). Acquiring adequate proficiency in Montenegrin language is an important driver of migrant economic and social integration. In order to solve key problems faced by migrants in Montenegro, our idea is to develop Montenegrin language-learning platform that includes a digital language-proficiency assessment exam and data basis of migrants who already speak the basic level of the Montenegrin language together with their professional preferences and experiences in order to boost their chances for employment.
Montenegro is not known as a multilingual country which causes many challenges for the people who don't speak the Montenegrin language, but still want to live there, search for job opportunities, make friends or complete basic tasks like buying food or filling out forms. One of the biggest obstacles migrant parents report is raising their children in a new, unfamiliar culture. For children who are unable to speak Montenegrin language, it’s virtually impossible to keep up with school classes. Our platform, with easy to use design, would be a driver to solving the problems migrants constantly encounter. While most migrants are happy to take whatever job is available when they first enter the country, finding a job, and slowly moving up the ladder is incredibly difficult. Educated migrants and the migrants who had decently paid jobs back home, but without the knowledge of the Montenegrin language, find it frustrating that they can’t obtain the same jobs in Montenegro. Our platform's data base which includes the migrants with the basic level of the Montenegrin language, as well as the insight in their professional preferences and experiences, would make it easier for the employers to choose and hire some of them. Montenegro provides language lessons to migrants, but it is very difficult for migrants to follow those lessons without the basic knowledge of the language. Also, finding the free time to learn a language between jobs and other duties, as well as taking care of the children, could be very demanding for migrants. This digital platform would easily solve that problem and provide the migrants with better opportunities for integration in the Montenegrin society. The entire work on the platform, would be aligned with International ISO standards (ISO 27001) in order to protect our users and their information. In addition to Montenegrin, it would be available in English, German, Russian and Arabic language.
By learning through our platform and speaking the Montenegrin language migrants can avoid social and cultural problems in the short and long term. Local residents will have less prejudice to migrants. Apart from that, the platform will enable the integration of migrants in local residents' social circles which will decrease the level of discrimination and social isolation. Accessing services for migrants who speak the Montenegrin language will go pretty much easier. Migrants' children with gained knowledge of the Montenegrin language will attend school normally with local residents' children without any discrimination problems. By using our platform which would also provide data basis of all migrants who gained knowledge of Montenegrin language, with information about their education and work experiences, they won't be forced to take any low-paid jobs in order to survive because resident employers could quickly hire some of them who fulfill certain conditions. This will also solve migrants' housing problems because they will be able to pay for it. All solutions provided by our platform would bring benefits to all in Montenegro and establish harmony in society - migrants will have a normal life, residents won't treat migrants as a threat to security and safety and Montenegro won't spend a lot of money on migrants' subsistence. Language learning service of our platform would be free of charge for migrants and therefore affordable for them. Our platform, by its results, would also encourage the establishment of social inclusion of representatives of all groups of our community, not only for migrants.
Our platform would encourage social inclusion of migrants and bring new values which would lead to a stronger, more inclusive and culturally diverse community. Friendship and cooperation with migrants would bring more experience, enhance cultural, communication and empathy skills. Online language learning and employability according to education and working experience for migrants, provided by our platform, influence increasing potential economic production. By hiring migrants through our platform, employers would have an opportunity to "cover" deficit jobs caused by emigration of the local population (“brain drain”) and lack of formal education in Montenegro in certain professions, contributing thereby to the development of human capital through new skills. That makes possibility for hiring migrants with better qualifications in comparison to members of the local community. Employers would have opportunity to solve problem of the lack of workforce because migrants would rather accept unfavorable working conditions than domestic workers, who are generally better protected by regulated working conditions and strong trade unions. Considering migrants as a resource not as burden to the state, there are grants/subsidies for the employment of migrants provided by state.
For the realization of our idea through meetings, we started key partnerships with: UNHCR, IOM, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Education, Red Cross of Montenegro and non-governmental organizations Juventas and Civil Alliance. Listed stakeholders would have the main role in providing information for our database, gathering migrants, creating digital language lessons, providing residence and work permits. This makes development of our platform more expeditiously what is added value of those stakeholders' engagement.
Through education and work experience our partner organization’s members gained negotiation and researching skills as well as skills for writing and implementing projects and managing partners, learning community and clients. Also, that NGO’s staff have human rights knowledge as most important skill for implementing of this idea. According to my education and experience in IT our team possess skills of creating and maintaining IT infrastructure. Those listed skills, knowledge and experience, make us, as a puzzle, a perfect match for developing the Komunumo platform. In order to implement our idea we also need to engage translators and teachers for translating and creating language courses and to employ people who would edit database, which could as well do NGO’s members. Stakeholders as UNHCR, IOM, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Education, Red Cross of Montenegro and non-governmental organizations Juventas and Civil Alliance would have main role in providing information for our database, gathering migrants, creating digital language lessons, providing residence and work permits. That would make development of our platform more expeditiously what is added value of those stakeholders' engagement.
Through the Action plan for the implementation of the strategy for integrated migration management Montenegro adopted as the goal of boosting the employment and work conditions of immigrants according to the need of labor markets. The aforementioned goal would be reached through activities of determining the annual number of work permits for foreigners (quota), in accordance with the migration policy, the situation and the movement on the labor market, undertaking activities in order to inform employers and foreigners about established quotas and conditions for employment and work of foreigners in Montenegro, in accordance with the new Foreign Nationals Law, which will be organized by Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Employment Agency and Ministry of Interior Affairs. Montenegro provides language lessons to migrants, but according to some research it is very difficult for migrants to follow those lessons without the basic knowledge of the language. Also, finding the free time to learn a language between jobs and other duties, as caring for children, could be very demanding for migrants, so providing the possibility for them to use digital platform would solve that problem. On the way to the development of Komunumo, we will encounter competitors such as Duolingo in the language learning section, while in the employment section the main competitors on the domestic market are zaposlii.me, prekoveze.me and the Employment Agency of Montenegro, such as Dekra and Indeed in international market. Komunumo would be the only digital platform which provides online Montenegrin language learning lessons combining, in an innovative way, that type of service with employment services, which would save the time and enable migrants to get adequate jobs more easily, pay their rent independently with a higher salary, have their children attend regular classes in our schools, reduce cultural differences and social distance.
People migrate for many reasons, including economic, political, environmental factors, or to join a family member. Many people are forced to migrate because of a war, civil war or state policies which discriminate against particular groups of citizens or people who oppose those in power. These people, political migrants, are unable to return home because they have fears of being persecuted and are unlikely to receive any protection from their government, and they usually receive refugee status. Environmental migrants are people who are forced to migrate from or flee their home region due to sudden or long-term changes to their local environment which adversely affects their wellbeing or livelihood. Although Komunumo is intended for listed types of migrants, it could be used also by economic and family reunion migrants. Economic migration is the movement of people from one country to another to benefit from greater economic opportunities. It is often assumed that such migration is primarily from less economically developed countries to the more economically developed countries and from former colonies to the country that was the imperial power. Family reunion form of migration refers to members of a family coming to join one of their relatives who is resident in another country. This commonly includes fiancé(e)s, (proposed) civil partners, spouses, or unmarried or same-sex partners, dependent children and elderly relatives. All mentioned types of migrants could use language-learning and employment service of our platform.
Migration, issue dealt by our concept, cannot be addressed only at the local or even national level. It is a global issue, that can only be tackled through synergies and common initiatives that take into account its territorial dimension. In 2020 according to IOM World Migration Report 2022, the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 281 million, or about 128 million more than 30 years earlier, in 1990 (153 million), and over three times the estimated number in 1970 (84 million). In August 2021, European countries hosted more than 655,000 refugees and migrants in reception centres or other accommodation arrangements. In 2021, the easing of COVID-19 containment measures enabled international mobility to resume, and between January and August, over 97,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Serbia – a 95% increase compared to the same period in 2020. While in the past South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SEEECA) was characterized primarily by outflows of migrants, there has been a gradual increase in the number of extra regional migrants coming into SEEECA countries, most notably from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia. Going forward, demographic and labor market trends in SEEECA, including labor and skill shortages exacerbated by emigration, indicate that SEEECA countries will be increasingly serving as countries of destination for migrants, including from other regions. An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 8 million refugees fleeing Ukraine have been recorded across Europe, while an estimated 8 million people had been displaced within the country by late May 2022.
