3-5 March 2009, Albania reports to the 53rd session of the commission for the status of women, New York

The DPEO Director, from 3 to 5 March 2009, took part as the representative of Albania in the 53rd session of the Commission for the Status of Women, in New York. The main topic of this session was “Equal sharing of responsibilities between men and women, including caretaking in the context of HIV/AIDS”.
In one of the discussion panels the representative of Albania gave a brief presentation of the Albanian policies and initiatives on gender equality, with special emphasis on the gender policies of the Government that aimed at enhancing the status of women, in order to provide them with a greater access to the labour market and to opportunities for an official, political and business career. It was underlined also that the Working Agenda of the Government of Albania foresees the full commitment of the executive to eliminate violence against girls and women and their exploitation for prostitution or other denigrating purposes.
Special emphasis was given to the achievements in the political-legislative context, such as the adoption of the National Strategy for Gender Equality and Against Domestic Violence, the Law “On Measures Against Violence in Family Relations”, as well as the Law “On Gender Equality in Society”, accompanied by the novelties that these instruments bring to the gender challenge, especially when it comes to the quota mechanism and its sanctioning in the Electoral Code.
Furthermore, special attention was paid to the presentation of the Third Government Report on CEDAW, which has been approved by Decision of the Council of Ministers in July 2008. This report clearly points out the progress made in the implementation of the obligations deriving from the Convention since the report of 2003. It also points out the evident progress and achievement in the legislative field, in drafting new policies, in the practical implementation and in the increase of the knowledge of this Convention among many players.
In the afternoon of 3 March the Albanian representative attended an activity organized by the Council of Europe and the Spanish Permanent Mission to the UN with the topic: “Equal Participation”.
This panel presented the most successful models in the countries of the Council of Europe regarding gender integration. So, the Minister of Gender Equality of Spain shared the Spanish experience in the aspect of legislative reforms and the influence that the quota has had in the increase of the representation of women in decision-making.
Another interesting model was that of the representative of Norway, which consisted in meeting the condition of mandatory participation of both genders in business management boards before these businesses were licensed, introducing thus in an obligatory way the quota mechanism even in the private sector.
Another meeting, on the same date, was the one organized by the UNIFEM centre on the progress, challenges and achievements of the “One UN Programme for Gender Equality” in the pilot countries. This meeting was attended by members of the UN staff in various countries and representatives of the Albanian and Vietnamese Governments. The UNIFEM representative in Vietnam and the representative of the Vietnamese Government presented the “One UN programme in Vietnam, achievements and challenges”. Subsequently, the Albanian representative gave a presentation of the same programme in Albania, dwelling on its major positive impacts, especially with regard to the support of the Government in the coordination of work between the state, donors and the civil society to fulfill the objectives.