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Albanian Ombudsman Supports the Coalition for Promotion of Women and Youth in Politics

Hekuran Toci

14 April 2006

Ermir Dobjani, Albanian Ombudsman, met on 7 April 2006 with representatives of the Coalition for Promotion of Women and Youth in Politics, which presented him with a petition requesting that a minimum quota of 30 percent for women participation in politics is set up and officially regulated.

The Coalition was represented by Elona Gjebrea from the Center for Population and Development, Altin Hazizaj from the Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania, Valbona Kaso from the Independent Forum of Albanian Women and Brizida Gjikondi, legal expert with the Coalition.

The Ombudsman expressed his personal and institutional support for this initiative of the Coalition, which "will further contribute to the emancipation of Albanian society."

In its 2005 Report, the Albanian Ombudsman said that many international institutions have recommended that the Albanian authorities take immediate steps to change the public perception and behaviour towards the participation of women in public affairs, including the approval of positive practices.

"I believe that the Albanian authorities shall take the necessary measures to ensure appropriate presentation of women and youth in political and public life of the country, and other sectors of the Government", said Dobjani during the meeting.

"On behalf of the Coalition, I would like to thank the Ombudsman of Albania for his support of our petition and for publicly expressing his concerns about women and youth rights in Albania�, said Altin Hazizaj of CRCA. �This initiative aims to give an opportunity to all women and young people in Albania to have a say in Albanian politics. Finally, we would like to see the Ombudsman recommending the Government of Albania to set a 50-50 quota for women representation in all governmental structures."

The Ombudsman considered the initiative of the Coalition as a step forward and
declared that political parties should seek opportunities for inclusion of more women in their lists, especially lawyers, economists or sociologists, which will help the Albanian Parliament achieve higher quality of work.

"In the next few days, based on our constitutional statute for the protection of human rights in Albania, as the Ombudsman of Albania, I will provide my support this initiate, through recommendations to all the Albanian authorities and I'll follow the concerns raised by your Coalition continuously", said Dobjani.