This is the first report on the killings of women and girls, as well as femicide in Albania (2021-2023). The report, carried out under the Femicides Observatory within the People’s Advocate, serves as a vital monitoring mechanism to prevent femicide.

In Albania, women and girls with disabilities face stigma and social isolation due to deeply rooted cultural norms. The UN’s November 2024 Flagship Report on Disability and Development calls for accessible services, better data collection, and inclusive policies.

This Guidance Notes series provides succinct information on the key gender issues in selected policy areas, and to show how gender mainstreaming can be done in practical terms. This set of tools is made available through the EU’s and UN Women’s technical support to the Government of Albania in the context of accelerating the process of EU integration.

The Supreme State Audit Institution in Albania has conducted a performance audit on the “Economic Empowerment of Women”, in the framework of the “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality Towards More Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” project, financed by the Government of Sweden – SIDA, with the technical support of UN Women Albania.

The report on “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on specialist services for victims and survivors of violence in the Western Balkans and Turkey: A proposal for addressing the needs” is a rapid assessment of specialist services to women who experienced violence to better understand the challenges posed to service delivery, as well as to explore new opportunities for innovative approaches in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid assessment was undertaken within the EU-UN Women Regional Programme “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds.”