Conference “Women and Elections”

A PROGRAMME RUN BY Global Opportunities Albania with the support of Hans Seidel Foundation, Tirana, Albania

The legislative changes which took place in Albania during 2008, among which it is worth mentioning the inclusion of gender quota on elected and nominated posts in the Law “On Gender Equality in Society” (July 2008) and the revision of the Electoral Code (December 2008), created favourable conditions for the increase of the participation of Albanian women and girls in politics at a national level.

The elections for the Assembly of the Republic of Albania, which took place in July 2009, resulted in more than doubling of the number of women Members of Parliament, from 7% in the year 2006 to 16.4% in 2009. Despite these achievements, the full and equal participation of women/girls in decision-making continues to be limited. The efforts for the continuous increase of such participation remain one of the priorities for the democratic development of the country (MoLSAEO & OSCE, 2008)[1].

Since we are in the eve of the elections for the Albanian governance for the up- coming four years, Global Opportunities Albania recommends to organize this conference to increase the awareness on the role and rights of women as candidates and voters; supporting political parties to disseminate information related to gender quotas and ensure its implementation; building and / or strengthening of the capacities of women at the local level,  with the goal to increase their skills for being engaged in the electoral process as voters, candidates, and as part of the electoral administration.

The main objective of this activity is to:

Identify strategies to increase the awareness of Albanian society on the benefits of increasing women’s role in elections;
Establish strategies of collaboration in the lead up of the summer elections.

This conference will be held for one full day, combining presentations with discussions.  There will be more than 100 invited participants.

Location:

Hotel Tirana International, Tirana, Albania

Target Group:

Participants from different sphere of the social and political life and Albanian decision makers.

Aim:

The aims of Global Opportunities Albania for this conference are:

  1. To increase the skills of women engaged or potentially engaged in the electoral process as voters, candidates, and as part of the electoral administration.
  2. To identify problems/ issues that needs to be addressed for the upcoming election.
  3. To explore the possibility of establishing an ongoing organization to promote and empower women in public life, through training, networking and mutual support.

Period:

4 April


Program Director: Joniada Hito