The Network for Affirmation of NGO Sector

The Network for the Affirmation of the NGO Sector (MANS) is a watchdog organization that works to increase overall transparency and accountability of Montenegro state institutions and to ensure that government serves the public interest. MANS monitors the implementation of laws and policies, investigates concrete cases of corruption, conducts and shares policy research and analysis, provides legal aid to citizens and civil society organizations, and advocates for reforms in Montenegro. As a partner of the Organized Crime and Reporting Project, an international network of investigative journalists, MANS also exchanges best practices and joins projects with regional and global peers—like Serbia’s KRIK—to uncover and confront criminal networks that operate around the world.

MANS exposed the legal loopholes and creative accounting that the Montenegrin government used to award a contract for a second coal lignite power plant in the Pljevlja region. After MANS and co-campaigners argued that the new plant would be economically unviable and exacerbate air pollution, the government and contractor broke off the deal in 2019, making Montenegro the first Western Balkan country to officially cancel a new coal project.