As Albania celebrates three decades since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration, the country continues to make strides in gender equality. An inspiring intergenerational dialogue at a recent event brought together key stakeholders from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, United Nations Albania, the EU Delegation, and other partners, alongside passionate feminist activists from all generations.

In this interview, Ulsi Manja, Minister of Justice of Albania, highlights the government's commitment to advancing gender equality through the justice system. He discusses the importance of gender-responsive budgeting, ongoing efforts to address the needs of women and girls, and key interventions such as free legal aid, humane conditions in penal institutions, and measures to combat gender-based violence.

Monika Kocaqi has dedicated twenty-five years to preventing gender-based violence (GBV) in Albania and her work is far from over. She has led groundbreaking initiatives, including the early implementation of the Domestic Violence Protection Law, overcoming skepticism and driving systemic change. Monika Kocaqi supported the establishment for the first time of the Coordinated Referral Mechanisms and enhanced the legal knowledge of professionals. She has been at the forefront of initiatives like gender-responsive budgeting to secure vital services for survivors of gender-based violence. Her extensive work includes authoring over forty training manuals, strategies, and research studies on GBV and gender mainstreaming in Albania and beyond.

Supported by UN Women, local organizations like the Center for Community Development "Today for the Future" have empowered women such as Sirije Kumaraku to voice their needs and participate in decision-making processes. This initiative has led to tangible improvements, such as new recreational spaces and better infrastructure in Durrës.

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.

A two-day workshop on gender participatory budgeting and community outreach practices brought together civil society organizations, local government representatives, activists, and gender-responsive budgeting experts from Albania and North Macedonia.

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.

Thirty experts including government officials from ministries of finances, national gender mechanisms, local government representatives and supreme audit institutions, together with UN Women officials from across the Western Balkans met in Tirana, Albania on 3-4 May to monitor the progress in the implementation of the project “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” In 2022.

Interview with Michele Ribotta, Head of the UN Gender Group and UN Women Representative in 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.