New Horizon (NH) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1999, in Ulcinj (Montenegro). Initially, NH has focused on the area of health education, legal aid for women, support for women households and their children, and other marginalized groups.

Nowadays, the mission of the organization is: to increase the participation of the citizens in local processes and broader, contributing in that way to developing the democracy and promoting good governance, through the realization of educational and integration programs.

NH has been successful in articulating community needs and mobilizing stakeholders to help solve their problems. NH has been working individually as well as in the framework of different networks to formulate policies, advocate and lobby for important community issues, conduct monitoring of local government, etc.
NH works with groups of citizens, non-governmental organizations, but also with individuals from governmental or non-governmental sector, in order to increase awareness on the need and methods of participation of citizens in the decision making processes at all levels of authority.
NH focuses on three main areas: Women and Youth Program; Good Governance; and Inter-Ethnic Dialogue Program.

 

WOMEN STRENGTHENING PROGRAM

NH is among the rare organizations on the national level that deals with single mothers’ issues. There is no analysis of single parent issues in Montenegro, there is no evidence of them, and no plans and strategies developed regarding this group. With the aim to support single parents, New Horizon cooperates with the Centre for Social Work (for Municipality of Ulcinj and Bar) since 2012. Through this partnership, New Horizon started a social service on the local level – Service of support for single mothers, which functions with difficulty due to the lack of stable funding sources. This service involves socio-educational work with single mothers and their children, as well as advisory and therapy services for this  target group.

The partnership with national institutions and local government in this period resulted in some great tangible outputs:

  • The publishing of Guidebook for Single Parents (the first guidebook in Montenegro regarding single parent issues)
  • The publishing of Guidebook for Parents of Children with Disabilities
  • Creating of Database for single parents in Ulcinj (which is the first step in identifying single parents as a vulnerable group)

 

YOUTH PROGRAM

New Horizon is the only organization on the local level that is constantly engaged in the fight against drug abuse and other addictions among children and youth.

Within this program, NH conducted various public actions, peer education, surveys researches, and performances. Partners of this program were: The Police Department of Ulcinj, the Health Care Centre and educational institutions.
In order to contribute in the prevention of juvenile delinquency, NH entered into partnership in 2014 with the Supreme State Prosecutor and the High Court (Podgorica) to collaborate on the national project “JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN”. With this project, NH will try to ensure the best interests of minors hoping to influence their proper development and improve their sense of personal responsibility.
In order to familiarize the young people with the actual social processes, NH also conducts a special program for youth about European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Within this program, our organization organizes non-formal education sessions, media appearances, public events, and publishes various brochures on this topic.
New Horizon is the only organization on the local level that promotes youth activism and is engaged in creating youth policies. NH initiated the drafting process of Local Action Plan for Youth, for the period 2015 – 2020. Within this project, NH involved a large group of young people in order to identify their needs, managed to form a multi-sectorial team with the representatives of all relevant institutions, and coordinated the whole process of the Plan.
NH was also the coordinator in the process preparation of the LAP for Children (2012 – 2016).

Considering the fact that Ulcinj is a multiethnic and multicultural place, NH since its founding has realized several projects that helped in improving the interethnic relations. However, the situation in Montenegro hasn’t shown any greater improvements even after many years of work of the civil society. The researches of the public opinion show that the interethnic relations in Montenegro are not satisfying, also the ethnic distance is very high and there is lack of knowing each other. The results of these researches also show that the biggest ethnic distance is towards Albanian and Roma population. Driven by this fact, NH has initiated and realized many projects that encourage interethnic and intercultural dialogue, and mitigate the ethnic distance among young people in Montenegro.

During past years, our organization has built great partnerships with NGO’s from the northern part of Montenegro. NH has organized many youth exchange visits among the youth from the south and from the north in order to get to know each other better, to eliminate the prejudices, and to develop their intercultural skills with the focus on language differences and communication for democratic citizenship.

 

DONORS

Since its beginnings, NEW HORIZON was supported by several donors:

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES – Podgroica
Global Albanian Foundation
UNDP – Montenegro
Fund for Active Citizenship (FAKT)
SLOVAK AID (Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
DIRECTORATE FOR YOUTH and SPORT (Gov. of MNE)
OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE – Montenegro
ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND
ULCINJ Municipality
Ministry for Human and Minority Rights Protection
CARE International
The BALKAN TRUST FOR DEMOCRACY
OSCE
Global Fund for Women
MALTESER
High Commissioner of Human Rights – OHCHR
UNICEF
KVINNA TILL KVINNA
USAID
Balkan Community Initiatives Fund