Association of Women, Peace and Security

I. Resolution 1325, Women's rights from Concept to Albanian Reality

The United Nations Initiative, precisely on October 31, 2000, for the adoption of a resolution on the full and equal participation of women, has found widespread support in all its member states. Albania is currently a good example of implementing this resolution. Such a fact should be emphasized that it is made possible by the tireless work of the Albanian civil society, namely the Association of Women with Social Problems, currently named "Woman, Peace, Security" which has supported the drafting of the National Action Plan in implementation of Resolution 1325 for the country.

Till september 2018, the Republic of Albania did not yet have a concrete Plan that aimed  including gender equality in peace and security issues. From 2016 until the adoption of this Plan, considerable efforts have been made to prepare and approve it. 

The Inter-Institutional Action Plan came out thanks to the work of the Albanian government with the approval of CMD no. decision 524, dated 11/09/2018) entitled: APPROVAL OF THE ACTION PLAN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325, "ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY", 2018-2020. 

This document has been prepared on behalf of the Government of Albania by the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Health and Social Protection in close consultation with representatives of local authorities, international organizations and with input from representatives of civil society and experts in the field.

The impetus, expertise and technical assistance for the preparation of the document have been provided by countries with significant commitment to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 "On Women, Peace and Security" (Resolution 1325), as the Netherlands and Sweden, through the offices of their diplomatic missions in Albania, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations through the "Fund for Gender Equality, UN Women" in Tirana, the Presence of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Albania (OSCE) and the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, with the aim of reflecting the universality of Resolution 1325. The most substantial support has been provided through the "Resolution 1325" project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the "Gender Equality Fund, UN Women "and implemented by the Association of Women with Social Problems", and "The Network for Empowering Women nor Albanian, AWEN "

The "Coalition for Resolution 1325" created by civil society organizations has been a contributor to the process of drafting this Action Plan. During its three years of work, civil society has been maximally engaged in the creation of an International Coalition named "Peace Woman of Security", made up of 32 prestigious organizations.

In the context of project implementation, to give concrete inspiration to the implementation of the Action Plan regarding the Resolution on the Coalition member organizations, as well as to provide an informative guide for them, experts in the field drafted the Orientation Strategy, which has also been the product of organizations' work in designing its structure and content. This document is a guide that paves the way for the realization of the Coalition's mission and vision in monitoring the Action Plan as well as other aspects addressing women's safety in our country. This strategic document provides the concrete progress of the Coalition's activity in the context of monitoring the implementation of this action plan in our country.

The coalition of 32 organizations have maximally engaged in fulfilling the mission of implementing the National Action Plan under the Vision For  A Society that is conscious and active, a promoter and guarantor of human rights of women ”.

Mission of this coalition: The Coalition "Women, Security, Peace" contributes to the proper implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Albanian Government's National Action Plan through monitoring, advocating and lobbying for their implementation as and public awareness of women's security and peace issues.

II. Statistical data, 2019

III. General Data on National level

 Thanks to the increased awareness and capacity under the Resolution 1325 Project, it can be said that Albania has made progress in informing Resolution 1325.

From an initial assessment in 2017 of women's involvement in peace and security-related structures, data showed that Albania had about 6300 unregistered weapons in 2016, 109 cases of trafficked victims, 95 cases of trafficked victims , 21% of women were included in the Assembly, 14.7% of women were elected mayors, 10% of women in the Armed Forces and only 6% of women were in the Police Force.

 After the 2017 elections, there was an increase in women's turnout. Parliament in 2018 had a higher number of women compared to previous ones, with 28% of womens, while after the last local elections in only 9 out of 61 municipalities we had mayors, with only 14.75% of women.

Currently 47% of the government is made up of women.

Also, the tendency of increased participation of women is also present in public institutions of the civil service: during 2016, 60% of the nominees were female and 40% were male compared to 2015, the percentage between women and men results to be deepened in favor of women (about 4% more compared to 2015).

Gender-based issues in the security sector still need to be addressed. Guidelines of the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Guidelines on the activities of the Armed Forces for 2017 addressed gender equality issues, anticipating the intention to increase female professional soldiers in the Armed Forces by up to 15% the number of soldiers and in each special structure, in the missions and tasks at the required operational levels. Data on the degrees earned by women during 2017.

- In 2017, in the Armed Forces by female military personnel, the total number of women was 210, of whom 50 officers, 46 unauthorized officers, and 98 soldiers.

- In 2016, 158 women were promoted to the Armed Forces by female military personnel, of which 64 officers, 70 NCOs and 24 soldiers.

- In 2016, for the first time in the Albanian army, a woman became a brigadier general.

Also, in the diplomatic corps reality reflects an awareness of women's participation in policymaking, but there is still much to be achieved. In 2017, the number of women ambassadors increased to 26% and the total number of women to 33%, reaching the highest level of the Albanian Foreign Services. This trend needs to be maintained and further strengthened.

Women still do not have police participation and security contributions. The percentage of women in the State Police in January 2018 was 14.2%, of which 9.7% are police officers, 0% in senior management positions, 20% senior leaders, 0% first leaders and 8% leaders.

Also, although the number of women in the Armed Forces has increased by 14% in 2017 compared to 2016, military personnel still occupy about 10% of the Armed Forces. During 2017, women in military representation abroad accounted for 16% of the total, with only one official, out of 6 serving in this position during 2016. During 2017, only 4.4% of women were involved in missions / operations abroad .

As can be seen, despite the work done, and even the increased attention of policies towards the inclusion of women in peace and security issues, the country still needs to strengthen these policies. Implementation of the Action Plan is an issue that should be included among the country's policy priorities. In this context, the Association "Woman, Security, Peace" and the Coalition expresses the utmost further commitment to fulfill this priority according to the appropriate standards in our country.

Bajana Ceveli

Executive director

Association "Woman, Peace, Security"