Implementation of central concepts

AuthorBaci, Entela
Pages12-35
12
3 Implementation of central concepts
3.1 General (legal) context
Surveys on the definition, implementation and l imits of central concepts of g ender
equality law
Over the last five years, several reports and surv eys that provide insights into the legal
definition, implementation and limits of central concepts of gender equality and the non-
discrimination laws have been published in Albania. These includ e:
i. The National Report of the Republic of Albania under the third cycle of Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) (2019);59
ii. The Report of UNHCHR following the third cycle of Universal Period ic Review
(2019);60
iii. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW Committee) on the fourth periodic report of Albania
(2016);61
iv. GREVIO’s (Baseline) Evaluation Report Albania (2017);62
v. National strategy and action plan (2016-2020) on gende r equality;63
vi. National action plan on LGBTI persons (2016-2020);64
vii. Annual reports of the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination (2014-
2019);65
viii. Sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence in urban spaces in
Albania (Korca and Shkodra) (2019) a report prepared by IDRA Research and
Consulting with the support of UN Women in Albania;66
ix. ‘Gender Brief in Albania 2016’, an assessment done by UN Women and UNDP in
Albania;67
x. an Intersex Research Study (2018);68
59 Albanian Government (2019), National Report of the Republic of Albania under the third cycle of Universal
Periodic Review, A/HRC/WG.6/33/ALB/1, available at:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/ALIndex.aspx.
60 UN Human Rights Council (2019), Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights Compilation on Albania, available at:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/ALIndex.aspx.
61 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2016), Concluding Observations on the
fourth periodic report of Albania, available at:
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW/C/ALB/CO/
4&Lang=En.
62 Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), (2017)
GREVIO (Baseline) Evaluation Report on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of
the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence (Istanbul Convention) Albania, available at: https://rm.coe.int/grevio-first-baseline-report-on-
albania/16807688a7.
63 Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth (2016), National strategy and action plan on gender equality (2016-
2020), available at: https://awenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SKGJB-EN-web.pdf.
64 Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth (2016), National action plan for LGBTI persons in the Republic of
Albania, 2016-2020, available at: https://shendetesia.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Plani-LGBTI-
2016-2020-KM.pdf.
65 These reports are available in Albanian at: https://www.kmd.al/raporte-vjetore/.
66 IDRA Research and Consulting, United Nations Albania and UN Women in Albania (2019), Sexual
harassment and other forms of gender based violence in urban spaces in Albania (Korca and Shkodra),
available at: https://www2.unwomen.org/-
/media/field%20office%20albania/attachments/publications/2019/05/english_web.pdf?la=en&vs=355;
IDRA Research and Consulting is a spin-off of the Institute for Development Research and Alternatives:
www.idrainstitute.org
67 UN Women Albania and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2016), Gender Brief Albania,,
available at: https://www2.unwomen.org/-
/media/field%20office%20albania/attachments/publications/2016/10/unw%20gender%20brief%20albania
%202016_en_web.pdf?la=en&vs=2652.
68 Randjelovic, C., Petkovic, N., Kumwenda, R., Macauley, J., Mladenovic, N., Konstantinov, B. (2018),
Intersex Research Study Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
13
xi. Gender responsive budgeting in Albania (2019), a manual prepared by UN Women
for the employees of central and local public administration;69
xii. How to support your intersex children (2019), a man ual prepared by IGLYO, OII
Europe and EPA, translated into Albanian by the Tirana Legal Aid Service (TLAS), an
Albanian NGO.70
i. There are some UPR findings related to gender equality/non-discrimination concepts
and laws that are presented in the following:71
Amendments to the Labour Code in December 2015 introduced new provisions
that have a direct impact on women, including: an improved definition of sexual
harassment in the workplace; the reverse of the burden of proof for sexual
harassment; additional guarantees for women’s return to work after their
maternity leave; non-discriminatory remuneration for all, and not only for men
and women, etc.
The new Code of Administrative Procedures (La w 44/2015) was ap proved by
the Assembly of the RoA on 30 April 2015 and entered into force on 28. May
2016. An important step is the provision relat ing to the reverse of the burden
of p roof in matters of discrimination. Public bodies should be guided by the
principle of equality and non-discrimination for grounds provided by law,
including gender and gender identity.
On December 2017, the Assembly of the RoA approved the Resolution On
combating violence against women and girls and in creasing the effectiveness
of legal mechanisms for its prevention, and established the Pe rmanent
Parliamentary Subcommittee on Gende r Equality and the Preventi on of
Violence against Women.
The National Strategy on Gender Equality and Action Plan 2016-2020 provides
specific objectives, indicators and budgets for each activity. The National
Strategy and Action Plan on Gender Equality 20162020 provides for a
comprehensive multi-sectorial response to gender-based violence and
domestic violence and contains several measures on preventing and addressing
violence against women, children and supporting the women and child victims.
In 2016, standards of services for victims of domestic violence were introduced.
There is need for a multidisciplinary, rapid a nd effective approach and for
national and local government bodies to increase their knowledge of budgeting
for gender priorities and to apply for funding to provide social services for
victims of domestic violence.
ii. The UNHCHR report following the Albanian UPR of 2019 includes the following
findings:72
The United Nations country team noted that despite legal developments to promote
non-discrimination, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
intersex persons persisted, including denial of their right to marry and have a family,
the right to g ender reassignment surgery for transgender persons, and the right t o
and Serbia, publication of USAID and UNDP, available at:
https://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/library/poverty/intersex-research-study.html.
69 UN Women (2019), Gender responsive budgeting in Albania (Buxhetimi i pergjithshem gjinor ne Shqiperi),
September 2019, available at: https://albania.unwomen.org/en/digital-
library/publications/2019/12/buxhetimi-i-pergjigjshem-gjinor-ne-shqiperi.
70 TLAS (2019), How to support your intersex children (Si t’I mbështesni fëmijët tuaj intersex), a manual
prepared by IGLYO, OII Europe and EPA, adopted and translated in Albanian by TLAS, available in:
http://www.tlas.org.al/sites/default/files/MANUAL%20INTERSEX%20PER%20PRINDERIT_FINAL_0.pdf.
71 Albanian Government (2019), National Report of the Republic of Albania under the third cycle of Universal
Periodic Review, A/HRC/WG.6/33/ALB/1, Paragraphs 34-35, 39 and 43-44, available at:
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G19/048/74/PDF/G1904874.pdf?OpenElement.
72 UN Human Rights Council (2019), Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights Compilation on Albania, Paragraphs 6 and 29, available at: https://documents-dds-
ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G19/048/44/PDF/G1904844.pdf?OpenElement.

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