Albania-2019 Commitments

Commitment: Security Sector: Will seek to increase women’s participation in armed forces, police and in peacekeeping operations.

Albania managed to send two women peacekeepers to South Sudan, and the Ministry of Defense is discussing the possibility and hoping to continue this kind of engagement. (delivered by Albania at commitments event)

Albania is also seeing a positive trend in more women in armed forces. Currently women constitute 18% of armed forces in Albania and the government is working to increase this percentage. (delivered by Albania at commitments event)

Additional updates:

  • Per a February 2020 OSCE press release on WPS implementation in Albania, 35.4 percent of the new officers that joined the Albanian army in 2019 were women.
  • Commitment: Albania is working on a comprehensive strategy to integrate and align the WPS agenda into its national development policies, similarly to how they have successfully integrated the SDGs.
  • Additional update: This work is cited in Albania’s first Gender Equality Index, published in January 2020 (page 8).
  • Commitment: National Action Plan: Establishing a reporting system for the implementation of the Action Plan for the Implementation of Resolution 1325.
  • Update 29 January 2020: Albania has managed to establish this reporting mechanism for the Action Plan for the implementation of 1325. To summarize, it has two monitoring groups on two levels which report every six months and report on policies and make targeted recommendations to respective government offices to improve approaches to implementation. (delivered at commitments event)
    • Challenge: Albania does not have a dedicated budget for the implementation of the National Action Plan, which could cause problems with budgeting for the future. (delivered at commitments event)
  • Commitment: Capacity Building: Provide training for Members of Parliament, Government officials, including security officials and civil society on UNSCR 1325 and the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence.
    • Update as of 29 January 2020: Albania has managed 12 trainings on UNSCR 1325, prevention and response to CRSV. These initiatives were organized in cooperation with NGOs and not a direct engagement of state authorities. (delivered at commitments event)

Additional updates on Albania’s implementation of WPS in 2019 and 2020:

Albania’s report on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action reported on the country’s implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, including on pages 5-6 and pages 51-52.

    • Question 4 (pages 5-6): Has the increasing number of humanitarian crises—caused by conflict, extreme weather or other events—affected the implementation of the BPfA in your country? YES.
  • Specific challenges include: translation, lack of shelters, unaccompanied minors, difficulty identifying survivors of GBV, lack of comprehensive assessment, case management, referral mechanisms, cooperation with NGOs not formalized.
    • Question 26 (51-52): What actions has your country taken in the last five years to build and sustain peace, promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development and implement the women, peace and security agenda?
  • Adopted and / or implemented a National Action Plan on women, peace and security; Integrated women, peace and security commitments into key national and inter-ministerial policy, planning and monitoring frameworks; Used communication strategies, including social media, to increase awareness of the women, peace and security agenda; Re-allocated funds from military spending to social and economic development, including for gender equality and the empowerment of women; Supported inclusive and gender-sensitive conflict analysis, early warning and prevention mechanisms.
    • Question 27 (pg 53) What actions has your country taken in the last five years to increase the leadership, representation and participation of women in conflict prevention, resolution, peacebuilding, humanitarian action and crisis response, at decision-making levels in situations of armed and other conflicts, and in fragile or crisis settings?
  • Promoted and supported women’s meaningful participation in peace processes and the implementation of peace agreements; Integrated a gender perspective in the prevention and resolution of armed or other conflicts

Question 28 (pg 53): By the Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 50, dated 06.02.2019 was approved the Strategy on small arms, light weapons and explosives control 2019-2024 and the Action Plan 2019-2021. The Strategy defines the activities that aim to increase the participation of women in the small arms, light weapons and ammunition control and improving the capacity of competent institutions for the inclusion of gender equality in the policies of light weapons control.

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