Horizontal Facility III - Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania

Retour Building a dignified and inclusive future: regional meetings on disability rights and social inclusion

Virginia DI PASQUA

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Building a dignified and inclusive future: regional meetings on disability rights and social inclusion

The European Union and Council of Europe, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Protecion and ‘Se Bashku’ Foundation, supported a series of regional meetings, in Durrës, Shkodër, Berat and Elbasan, focused on social inclusion and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, ahead of the National Council on Persons with Disabilities, to be held on 4 December 2024. The initiative aimed to promote dignity and exchange on ways and measures to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities in line with the CoE standards.

Meetings brought together representatives from local municipalities, regional employment offices, state police, community members, and civil society organizations working in the field of disability. Participants engaged in active discussions, identifying key local challenges and exploring solutions to better support individuals with disabilities. Senior representatives of the Ministry for Health and Social Protection shared findings on the National Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities 2021-2025, offering insights on national efforts to improve accessibility and inclusion. The issues raised during the meetings will be further addressed in collaboration with relevant authorities to ensure continued progress on disability rights and inclusion.

The meetings also served the purpose of promoting the recently published Inclusive Dictionary for Persons with Disabilities to promote inclusive language in addressing disability in Albania.

These events took place in the framework of the action on "Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania", part of a joint programme of the European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye 2023-2026”.

Durrës, Shkodër, Berat, Elbasan, Albania NOVEMBER 2024

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The action aims at bringing forward the effects of the reforms in the field of anti-discrimination and combating hate speech. It supports the alignment with European standards to better protect the rights of vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities, further strengthening diversity and equality in Albania.

The action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” running from December 2023 until January 2026.

The main goal of the action on “Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania” is to improve protection of minorities and other vulnerable groups in Albania, from discrimination and hate speech/hate crimes, in line with the European standards.

The action beneficiaries are the public institutions in the field of antidiscrimination, local stakeholders and most importantly the people in Albania. By providing technical assistance and raising awareness of public institutions and related actors in the field, the action brings forward the effects of the reforms in the field of anti-discrimination and combating hate speech as well as advancing the overall protection of human rights for the people of Albania and in particular for the vulnerable communities.

This action offers assistance in improving the record of fighting discrimination, racism, hate speech and hate crimes in Albania.

The support is provided as part of the EU accession process while the action offers capacity building initiatives, adapting methodologies of the Council of Europe in the field and exchange of best practices, to foster co-operation among partners and the dialogue between stakeholders.

Awareness raising on diversity and anti-discrimination towards other constitutes an important component of the action.

Notably, the action will ensure that:

Policy makers better address discrimination and hate speech;
Public institutions and Civil Society Organisations improve responses to ensure fight against discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes;
General public in Albania becomes more aware and contributes to counter intolerance, hate crimes and racism for a more cohesive society.

The total budget of the action is 850,000 Euros. Albania is also benefitting from the regional action on Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans, worth 700,000 Euros.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 Million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.