Tirana, 12 July 2012 - The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) launched today in Tirana two important documents on gender equality in Albania: the First National Report on the Status of Women and Gender Equality in Albania and the Study on the Gender Wage Gap in Albania.

The first national report on the status of women and men in Albania, supported by the Spanish Embassy, contains a data base on the status of women and men in Albania and covers nine policy fields of a key importance to gender equality: national development indicators, demography, legal framework and institutional mechanisms, health, education, economy, social policies and services, political representation and participation, and domestic violence.

The report tries to give an answer to two key questions: How are women positioned in society compared to men? How are women doing compared to 10 years ago?

“We hope that the analysis and the information contained in this report would be useful to the Government of Albania, international organizations, researchers, universities, civil society organizations and the citizens to support an empowering legal, political, social and economic environment, with the purpose of ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women in Albania” - Ms. Semia Solange Guermas de Tapia, UN Women Representative to Albania, is quoted saying.

Thanking UN Women and the Spanish government for their support, Ms. Filloreta Kodra, Deputy Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities noted that the National Report on the Status of Women and Gender Equality (NRSWGE) in Albania is the first report that shows the overall status of women and men in Albania.

“Women represent half of the Albanian population and they are the key development factor in the country. To change reality, first it must be understood, and this report is a reflection of the careful work carried to present the reality as it is and the context Albanian women live in”, said Ms. Kodra.

The report highlights that despite the current gaps, Albania has made significant progress. The status of women has improved when it comes to the legal, policy and institutional frameworks. Gaps have been reduced in education, in the health of mothers and reproductive health, in the representation of women in Parliament, in the provision of services in cases of domestic violence.
At the same time, there are still considerable gender differences and inequalities. Data indicate that women still face domestic violence, significant under-representation in the public and political life and in the labour market and the economy. Only 1.4 % of women are mayors and only 6% own agriculture enterprises.

The study on the wage gap launched today contains detailed scientific data about the gap between women and men, estimated around 17%.

On this study, Ms. Kodra stressed that “this is a deep study on the ratio and wage gap between women and men, a neglected issue in Albania. Our aim by this study is to enable a better understanding of the problem and identification of the national policies to be implemented by the Government of Albania to support, promote and economically empower women as key partners of the development and integration reforms in the country”.

The data presented in both reports not only reflect the current status quo, but tell us a lot for the perspectives available to girls and women in the coming years. In addition, they draw the attention to those fields requiring re-establishment of priorities, review of laws and undertaking of measures in the policy domain, with the aim of satisfying the vision of the national development and integration.
Both studies shall be published regularly, with the purpose of assessing and monitoring the progress in implementation of national and international commitments on gender equality and the human rights of women. Furthermore, statistics, analysis, and recommendations in these reports shall be used for fact-based policymaking, new research and improvement of the data collection and processing methodologies in the country.

Photo:(Left to right) Ms. Semia Solange Guermas de Tapia, UN Women Representative to Albania; Ms. Filloreta Kodra, Deputy Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; Ms. Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun, UN Resident Coordinator and Mr. Rafael Tormo Pérez, Ambassador of Spain

For more information, please contact:

Rezart Xhelo, NPC
rezart.xhelo@unwomen.org

UN Women, Albania
Rr. Papa Gjon Pali II, P.11/1 Kati 3-të, Ap. B2
Tiranë, Shqipëri
Tel: +355 4 2255364