Over the past decades, women and girls around the world have demolished barriers, dismantled stereotypes and driven progress towards more just and equal societies. Women’s rights were recognised as fundamental and universal human rights.

On International Women’s Day, the People’s Advocate in cooperation with UN Women launched the ‘Femicide Watch’. This first of its kind initiative will collect and analyze data at the national level to promote more effective policies and mechanisms to prevent gender-based killings of women.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, UN Women and students of the Faculty of Social Sciences in Albania launched a campaign to tackle gender stereotypes and discrimination, in partnership with Sophie Caffe, a popular coffee shop chain in the country. The initiative won first prize in a student “bootcamp” organized by UN Women as part of the joint UN programme "Leave No One Behind”.

How a women’s rights organization and the National Employment and Skills Agency in Albania are joining forces to support women survivors of violence integrate in the job market.

Forty one percent of Albanian women active online have experienced some form of technology-facilitated violence in their lifetime – the new research “The Dark Side of Digitalization: Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” shows.

They are asking for increased long-term, sustainable investments from government, private sector, foundations, and other donors to prevent violence against women and girls.

In a dedicated effort to promote gender equality and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, Albania is preparing for its fifth report to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), scheduled for October 18, 2023.

After six years of dedicated work, the UN Women regional programme Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in the Western Balkans and Turkyie “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds” comes to a close. Civil society organizations, government representatives and partners met to take stock of achievements, challenges, and the way forward.

Supported by a small grant from the UN Trust Fund, the Center "Shelter Edlira Haxhiymeri", in close partnership with the Streha Center for LBT women survivors of domestic violence, runs a project to end violence against women and girls in four remote areas of Albania.

Aferdita Kote’s* old Nokia phone had only one contact: that of her husband of 10 years. He called her constantly to know her whereabouts. But she did not tell him when she got a new smartphone equipped with a mobile application (Bright Sky) to report violence.

Fabiola Laço Egro is the founder and leader of the “Today for the Future” Community Center as well as a member of National Council of Civil Society in Albania and the Monitoring Network against Gender-Based Violence. One of the most prominent civil society activists in Albania, Ms. Laço Egro shares her perspectives and lessons learned on building networks and alliances to advance the gender equality agenda.

Anjeza Bojaxhiu is the local coordinator of the domestic violence referral mechanism – a dedicated mechanism that aims to protect and support survivors of violence, composed of a team of community professionals in Tirana, Albania. With extensive experience in good local governance and social services for women and girls from disadvantaged groups, Ms. Bojaxhiu shares the most promising practices related to establishing and operating local referral systems as well as ways to address challenges that may arise.

The UN Women office in Albania teamed up with the government, civil society organizations, international partners, and other UN agencies operating in the country to mark this year's 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence with a variety of public events, university lectures, trainings, social media campaigns and much more.

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection and UN Agencies in Albania launched the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” campaign supported by UN Women. The event brought together government and international partners, feminists, women’s rights activists, as well as many others who work every day to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.

Afërdita Prroni, the Executive Director of the Human Rights in Democracy Center, a grassroot civil society organization involved in promoting and protecting human rights in Albania, has been working to strengthen the implementation of the domestic violence law under UN Joint Programme on “Ending Violence Against Women in Albania” and UN Women’s project “Gender sensitive post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction” funded by the Swedish Government.

Since September 2021, UN Women has been working closely with UNHCR and CARITAS in Albania to ensure that migrant and asylum-seeking women and girls, in particular those at high risk of being subjected to violence, are properly identified and welcomed in the country.

Over 1200 students around Albania were trained boosting their the self-esteem and strengthening their safety.

Stela Tanellari is the Deputy Director and Reintegration Programme Manager of Different and Equal, an organisation in Albania that provides services for women survivors of violence. It has developed a complex approach for women’s economic reintegration under UN Women’s regional programme on ending violence against women “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,” funded by the European Union.

Cuko was married at a young age, giving birth to her first child before the age of 18. She was frequently abused, especially during pregnancy, by her often inebriated husband. Despite her desire to escape the cycle of violence, she was not aware of any services that could help her. He often locked her inside the house, kept her isolated from family members and physically abused her and the children who attempted to protect their mother.

A UN Women initiative, as part of a joint UN project funded by the Government of Sweden, is training teachers across the country in self-defense and communications skills to prevent and mitigate the risk of violence in schools.