“We are very proud to be a leading country, by example, in Europe by having 50% women and 50% men in every local council.”

The importance and role of women in the political and public decision-making in Albania was the focus of the speech that Prime Minister Rama addressed at the Summit "Global Leader Woman" in New York, initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“One of our tangible achievements is the increase of the representation of women in political and public decision-making. Actually, women’s representation the in current Albanian parliament has reached 21%, while in the cabinet that I lead women ministers are 7 out of 19. In the last local elections, we went further and took a very major step imposing quotas for all local councils. And so now, we are very proud to be a leading country by example, in Europe, by having 50% women and 50% men in every local council”.

Albania, the Prime Minister noted further in his speech, has taken important legal commitments, nationally and internationally, to combat discrimination and promote gender equality. The Albanian government has placed gender equality at the center of its agenda, and although many achievements have been marked, it remains a challenge to be taken forward.

“I will outline very briefly three aspects of this challenge that the Albania society is facing, by promising at the same time an effective engagement of all institutions responsible for their implementation.

First, economic empowerment of women, through increasing and improving access to credit, as well as promotion and expansion of employment programs for women and girls. Narrowing the gap of unemployment and increasing the participation of women in the labor market.

Second, prevention and reduction of violence against women and domestic violence, elimination of gender discrimination in education, health, media, strengthening the legal and institutional mechanisms, as well as improvement of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

And third, increased participation of women in political and decision-making bodies, as well as central and local representation of women in managerial and professional positions in all public administration bodies, including the representation of women in police and armed forces.”

At the end of his speech, Prime Minister Rama reiterated the commitment of the Albanian government to go along with the fulfillment of the Beijing Declaration, as well as the Plan of Action, a comprehensive roadmap in our way forward for achieving gender equality.