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.

The media forum provided a dynamic space for knowledge exchange, interactive sessions, and collaboration with gender and human rights experts. Journalists were equipped with new tools to report on sensitive issues with accuracy and inclusivity, challenge harmful stereotypes, and adopt innovative approaches.

Albania recently hosted its inaugural Gender Datathon, uniting students, researchers, and activists to explore data's role in advancing gender equality. Dive into this groundbreaking event and learn how data literacy can empower advocates for change!

The UN Women campaign was launched as part of the United Nations regional initiative “Youth for Inclusion, Equality & Trust” financed by the UN Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund. Inspired by John Lennon’s song “Imagine” the campaign reached more than 4.2 million people through social media in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo[1], North Macedonia and Serbia.

“Women and girls in Albania face significant underrepresentation and limited participation in sports due to rooted gender stereotypes, inadequate funding, and biased media portrayal”. These are some of the key findings from the "Gender Equality and Women's Participation in Sports in Albania" assessment, conducted by UN Women.

Around 20 journalists and media experts joined the media forum on "Media and Violence Against Women in Politics and Elections" organized prior to Albania’s Local Elections taking place on the 14th of May, by UN Women and its partner organization "Together for Life". Participants in the event discussed the various challenges faced by women in politics and elections and the crucial role of the media in addressing them.

The new proposals on gender equality and non-discrimination have been consulted with journalists and civil society.

The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, Åsa Regnér, visited Albania to meet with high level government representatives, civil society organizations and international partners.

A dialogue with the Media, rural women’s discussion, an influencer’s social media campaign and gender-sensitive trainings were organized around the country on the 8th of March.

Periana Bodinaku was the first Albanian girl who asked to be enrolled in the Police Academy in 1993 and in only five months managed to pave the way for many future women police officers.

Bajana Ceveli is the Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Security and Peace (AWSP) in Albania. Over the past three years, the Association, with the support of UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality, helped draft a National Action Plan (NAP) on UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which was adopted in September 2018. Ms. Ceveli spoke to UN Women about her personal motivation and why the National Action Plan is important for women.