UN Women Albania, in partnership with the Government, civil society, international partners, and UN agencies, marked this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against GBV under the theme #NoExcuse – UNiTE to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Activities included awareness campaigns, exhibitions, an award ceremony, youth initiatives, and private sector collaborations.

A powerful initiative united sport and advocacy to raise awareness about ending gender-based violence, with cyclists Mejdin Malhani, trainer of the Albanian Cyclist Team, and Bjarke Vodder Nielsen leading the journey and showcasing the strength and resilience needed to tackle this pressing societal issue.

People's Advocate along with the support of UN Women released a report on the killings of women and girls, as well as femicide, revealing that 32 women were killed between 2021-2023.

United Nations Agencies in Albania, alongside government institutions, civil society, and citizens, kick off the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence under the theme #NoExcuse – Unite to End Violence Against Women and Girls.

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.

UN agencies, national and international partners, visit North Albania to assess progress of the UN Joint Programme on Ending Violence Against Women.

The week leading to International Women’s Day buzzed with various activities, ranging from a youth-led campaign addressing gender discrimination in the workplace to the launch of Albania's Femicide Watch. An interesting panel featuring only men offered intimate insights into their experiences with patriarchy, feminism, and women’s rights. These events, held in collaboration with governmental bodies, UN agencies, private sectors, and academia, underscored a collective effort to tackle gender inequality from various angles.

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.

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.

The UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and UN Women Albania co-organized an online training on the Gender Equality Marker (GEM) and the Human Rights Marker (HRM). The overall aim of the training was to ensure that the GEM and HR Marker scoring will be accurate for the upcoming Joint Work Planning cycle, which will cover the 2024-2025 period. The training was also an important step for ensuring the accuracy of markers is instrumental for adequately score UNCT SWAP Indicator 6.1, which verifies whether adequate resources for gender mainstreaming are allocated and tracked.

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.

In the last two years, thanks to support from the European Union-funded regional programme on ending violence against women “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,” more than 3,000 women survivors have used the helpline for information, referrals and reporting – 900 of whom further obtained free legal aid and psychosocial counselling as well as referrals to more specialized support services.

Gjeline Doda, from Lezha, northwest Albania, is one of the first educators in Albania certified as an Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) instructor in 2021. Apart from teaching high school math, which she has been doing for almost 15 years, she is now working to empower and teach personal safety to a new generation by boosting students’ self-esteem and communications skills to prevent and mitigate the risk of violence.

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.

A week-long events tackle gender discrimination in Albania with participants asking for equal representation in every space.

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