UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 87) Law "On Social Assistance and Services" provides for economic assistance and social care even for children without parental care, services of social care; their functioning and funding; categories of beneficiaries; services to be provided to children in residential institutions. The novelty brought through this law is the possibility of creating the service of custody.

Para 88) During 2012, by-law acts were adopted for: the establishment and functioning of the coordinating mechanism for the referral of cases of children at risk, structures part of the mechanism, tangible tasks, intervention procedures assisting children at risk; coordination of mechanisms at the central and local level; rules related to cooperation between institutional mechanisms and NGOs to apply local policies for the protection of child rights; review procedures and procedures for imposing sanctions by the State Agency for the Protection of Child Rights (SAPCHR). Statistical data are gathered by SAPCHR and by Child Rights Units in regions (qark). The Joint Order between the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth and the Ministry of Interior "On the Protection of the rights of children exposed to different forms of abuse" strengthens cooperation between the responsible structures. The criteria for accepting persons in public and non-public residential social care institutions are defined. Children from the age of 6-16 are accommodated at children's home for school age (orphanage); Orphan children stay at these institutions until the age of 18.

Para 89) The Social Protection Cross Cutting Strategy laid down the objectives of decentralizing and deinstitutionalizing social care services for children. Reforming social services in social care facilities during the process of deinstitutionalization includes three alternatives: returning institutionalized children to their biological families (or to guardians, relatives); domestic and international adoption; placing children under temporary custody. Policies on protection of child rights occupied an important place in the National Strategy of Development and Integration 2007-2013.

Para 90) The Action Plan on Children 2012-2015 aims at strengthening the functioning of institutional mechanisms in application of the law and promoting the local government to draft comprehensive policies for children. The Plan defines concrete measures and activities related to application of policies and objectives for the welfare of the child; policies for the prevention and protection from violence and exploitation; policies to ensure a comprehensive educational system; health care; policies in the field of juvenile justice. In some regions of the country the inter-institutional cooperation at central and local level is translated into strategy and action plans to guarantee the promotion and protection of child rights.

National Report:
Para 41) Law "On legal aid", which entered into force on 1 June 2018, provide access to justice for individuals with economic difficulties including disadvantaged groups. The law defines conditions, procedures and rules on administration of legal aid guaranteed by the state, equal access to the justice system, professional legal aid, and state institutions responsible for administering legal aid. This law provides as beneficiaries of stateguaranteed legal aid regardless of their income and property, expressly victims of domestic violence, sexually abused victims and victims of trafficking in human beings, to other categories such as child victims and juveniles in conflict with the law, persons in social care, persons without legal capacity to act and victims of discriminatory behavior.
Para 42) Law No.22 / 2018 "On Social Housing", with regard of social housing programs provides for priority in terms of securing social housing victims of domestic violence, victims of trafficking and potential victims of trafficking.
Para 44) National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for cases of violence in family relations was established at the local level in 60 municipalities (out of the then total of 61 municipalities), as well employees for gender equality, with the role of local coordinators against domestic violence. Since 2016 are adopted standards of services for victims of domestic violence. There is need for a multidisciplinary, rapid and effective approach, for national and local government units' awareness on budgeting of gender priorities, applying for funding to provide social services for victims of domestic violence.
Para 45) The State Police has established a telephone service number 129 or 11 for all emergencies which operates 24 hours in 7 days. Since 2017, the Free Counselling Line 116- 117, is offering free of charge primary service of psycho-emotional support, counselling and assistance for the referral of violence, in a secure and confidential environment. National service counselling standards for victims of domestic violence were adopted.
Para 49) There are 6 non-public centers providing residential services (2 in Tirana, 1 in Berat, 1 in Korca, 1 in Elbasan, 1 in Vlora). In December 2018, was opened a Crisis Management Center for Victims of Sexual Violence “Lilium Center”, at the premises of the Tirana University Hospital Center "Mother Theresa". This Center provides 24/7 integrated services to victims of sexual violence by a multidisciplinary team. Standards of this Center were approved by Instruction of the Minister of Health and Social Protection in November 2018.
Para 78) The provision of services to victims of domestic violence has been strengthened. The number of children accommodated annually is relatively consistent, from 38–59 cases per year. A tailored integration service plan is developed for each child that includes their enrolment and monitoring of school attendance. Various awareness-raising and entertainment activities are carried out aiming to develop their social and cognitive skills. Specialist social workers and psychologists at the centre support the mothers to become part of the employment and housing schemes offered by the local government or non-profit organisations, in order to improve their financial situation. Other services available to victims, provided by public and private centres include, housing and psycho-social support, referral for medical care, legal aid, professional training courses, and employment mediation.

UN Compilation:
Para 30) … CEDAW was concerned about the prevalence of gender-based violence, the low rate of reporting of cases of gender-based violence against women, the insufficient implementation of the national referral mechanism, the insufficient number of shelters for victims of gender-based violence and the restrictive criteria for admission to those shelters, and the frequent failure to enforce protection orders and emergency protection orders. The country team made similar observations and highlighted that women from disadvantaged groups faced additional barriers to accessing services.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 27) … Both, JS5 and JS2 reported that the Law “On Free Legal Aid provided by the State” 111/2017, which provided the right for victims of domestic violence to obtain legal assistance, had not been fully implemented.
Para 29) According to JS5, victims of sexual violence received little protection and few services as the country did not have rape crisis centers or sexual violence referral centers. Victims also faced problems accessing short-term housing with the number of shelters in the country and their capacity being insufficient.

National Report:
Para 33) Amendments to the Electoral Code in 2013 on the parliamentary elections, which requiring at least 30% of the candidates on the multi-name lists of candidates to belong to each gender. Amendments of Electoral Code for the 2015 local elections upon a proposal of the Alliance of Women Members of Parliament provide that: 50% of the candidates on the multi-name lists of candidates to belong to each gender. As a result, the current representation of women in the Assembly is 27.85% (39 women out of 140). Women’s representation in the Government is respectively: 8 ministers or 42%; Women’s representation in the city councils is 34.6% (from 12% after the 2011 elections) and 9 mayors (14.7%) out of a total of 61 mayors. Progress has been made in relation with the representation in the public administration. Para 34) Amendments of the Labor Code in December 2015 introduced new provisions, with direct impact in women, including: an improved definition of sexual harassment in the work place; 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.
Para 35) A new Code of Administrative Procedures (Law 44/2015) was approved by the Assembly of the Republic of Albania on 30.04.2015 and entered into force on 28.05.2016. An important step is the provision related the reverse of the burden of proof in matters of discrimination. The public body should be guided by the principle of equality and antidiscrimination for grounds provided by law, including gender and gender identity.
Para 36) Several bylaws in relation to economic position of women were adopted , such as: On the right to withdraw economic aid, exclusively by women, that will increase the access to financial resources; Specific measures are adopted to support women entrepreneurs and women's development initiatives in rural areas.

UN Compilation:
Para 29) The United Nations country team noted that legislation on gender equality, nondiscrimination and domestic violence had improved, and that Albania was implementing the third National Strategy on Gender Equality for 2016–2020. CEDAW welcomed the amendment to the Labour Code that defined and reversed the burden of proof in cases of sexual harassment, …
Para 33) [CEDAW] welcomed the amendments made in 2015 to the Electoral Code, which established a 50 per cent quota for candidates from both sexes for local elections, and noted an increase in the number of women participating in political and public life.
Para 34) [CEDAW] was also concerned about the concentration of women in the informal labour market without adequate labour and social protection, the significant gender wage gap, particularly in the private sector, and the extremely low minimum wage that disproportionately affected women.83 The United Nations country team raised similar concerns.
Para 35) [CEDAW] welcomed the adoption of the action plan for supporting women entrepreneurs for 2014–202085 and the amendment made in 2014 to the Law on Social Assistance and Social Services, which provided for social assistance to be paid directly to women. Nevertheless, the Committee noted with concern the limited implementation of those measures, in particular at the local level and with regard to women and girls belonging to disadvantaged or marginalized groups.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 23) … JS1 also stated that girls often had fewer opportunities to attend secondary and tertiary education compared to boys.