Learning Record

Date: 17.10.17

Questions: Background information and history of Albania.

Summary:

- European country

- Location: near Greece, Western part of Balkan Peninsula

- Capital city: Tirana

- 1939-1941 Before the start of World War II, Albania was invaded by Italy which made
Enver Hoxha becomes head of new Albanian Communist Party while the King Zog flees to
Greece.

- 1943-1946 Then, Germany invaded and occupied which made Italy surrender. However,
Germany withdraws after that but Enver Hoxha who is a communist politician installed as
new leader which made the non-communist were forced to leave from government position.

- 1948-1955 After that, Albania breaks ties with Yugoslavia and Soviet Union begins
economic aid to Albania which leads to the founding of Warsaw Pact.

- 1985 Enver Hoxha, the Stalinist dictator died lead to the fall of Communist rule in Eastern
Europe.

- The Independent political parties formed. At first, the Communist Party wins the
multiparty elections. But, in the next year elections, Democratic Party wins and Sali Berisha
becomes the first elected president.

- 2009 Albania joins Nato officially and applies for membership of the European Union

- 2014 The European Commission recommends Albania as a candidate for EU membership.

- 2 major regions of Albanias geography:

- 70 % Mountainous highland @ North, East and South.

- Western Coastal lowland

All countrys agriculture

Most densely population

Analysis and opinion:

In my opinion, the reason that this country is not yet really develop is because it was once a
communist country, but then change into democracy. However, I dont think it really
become fully democratic country as there are some problems still going on like gender
inequality.

The geography of the country also took some parts in causing the problem of poverty and
gender inequality. As the country is mountainous in the North, it is more likely for those
places to be poor because technology, facilities and education cant really reach into that
place.

References:

Why is Albania Poor? (2017, August 15). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from
https://borgenproject.org/why-is-albania-poor/
Albania profile Timeline. (2017, July 24). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17681099
History of Albania. (n.d.) Retrieved October 17, 2017, from:
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab02
Told by friend (Chino)

Date: 08.11.17

Questions: What are the causes and effects of MDG (gender inequality) in Albania? How the
government due with this (solution)?

Summary:

- Causes

- Tradition

- Poverty

- Effects:

- Inequality in work: women gets pay less than men (in average women get paid 18% less
than men in urban area)

- Girls are forced into an early marriage

- Domestic violence

- Increases the rate of countrys infant mortality as women in poverty area keep having more
and more children, but they dont know how to take care of them and how to deal with
them when they caught a disease.
 - Boys get more chance to attend school and get educated. Girls are told to stay home and
do most of the house works and because there is lack of water in Albania, it is girls/ women
duty to find and carry safe water to the country.

- Solutions:

- Encourage girls to go to school and eliminate gender disparity at every levels of education.

- Globally, the number of girls to boys in primary school is 96 to 100, and even less in
secondary education.

- Uneducated girls are more likely to get and spread HIV/AIDS. Nearly the thirds of
people who live with HIV/AIDS are under 25 years old, and mostly are women.

- Promoting child protection

- Increase the access of water and sanitation

- Because of lack of safe water and hygiene, burden fall to girls. They have to find
and search for safe water for their family. This can be one of the reasons why they
dont get to go to school.

- Empower women votes and rights:

- Albania is taking action on women economic empowerment, ending violence

against women and increases their role in decision making. These will be done by
improving womens access to credit, promoting and expanding employment
programs for women and girls.

- 56 percent of women and girls unemployed people are benefit from this.

Analysis and opinion:

In my opinion, I think tradition and poverty really play the big role as the cause of gender inequality.
They can also leads to many other problems like infant mortality, HIV/AIDS and lack of education.

- Poverty: People who live in poverty dont really have access to education and school, so they dont
really understand about the equality between men and women. They just believe in tradition, so
women will get treated worse than men. There is also violence occurring within the family too. They
also have less access to contraception, so most families in those areas are usually large. However,
women are not educated, so they will not know how to treat their children if they are ill. This can
leads to another problem like increase in infant mortality rate as many children are born, but
because their mothers are lack of education, so they dont really know how to take care their
children properly.

- Tradition: Tradition makes people believe that women should be the one who stay home and do
house works. They dont need to go out for work or get education. Therefore, the number of girls to
the number of boys in school is very low.

References:
 Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017,
from https://www.unicef.org/mdg/gender.html
Albania vows to include more women in decision-making and the labour market (updated).
(n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/step-
it-up/commitments/albania

Date: 10.11.17

Questions: How the government deals with this problem (solution)?

Summary:

Government Solutions:

- Albania has created the Albania Constitution, which promotes the principles of equality
and non-discrimination. It also so protects the rights of human (especially women), human
dignity and freedom.

- Law on gender equality and domestic violence

- Law No. 9970, dated 24.07.2008 on Gender equality in society

- Law No. 9690 dated 18.12.2006 on Measures against domestic violence (as
amended)

- Law No.10221 dated 04.02.2010 on Protection from Discrimination

- National Gender Strategy enhances the gender perspective of public policies.

- Albanian strategic goals to remove gender-based violence and domestic violence:

- Economic empowerment of women and men.

- Guaranteeing factual and equal participation of women in the politics and

public decision-making.

- Reduction of gender-based violence and domestic violence

- Empowerment of the coordination and monitoring role of the National

Gender Equality Mechanism, as well as awareness-raising of the society on
gender equality advancing

Analysis and opinion:

It is hard to change people mind and how they think, since they already believe in what they have
been taught by tradition or culture or other things else. The laws might be effective in some way.
They might be able to force people from not being violent, but I dont think they really took the big
part in solving the problem. I mean, people can still sneakily do what is illegal. If the violence
happens inside a family, then no one would know unless someone go tell the police. Also, if the
punishment is not that harsh, there wouldnt be people obeying the law, and so the problem would
continue as it is.

References:

Sheshi, E. (n.d.). National Gender Equality Policies in Albania. Retrieved November 10, 2017,
from: http://eurogender.eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/events-files/al_1-2june17.pdf
Dragoti E., Tahsini I., Dhembo E., & Ajdini J. (2011). Monitoring Albanias steps towards
gender equality: The case of Gender Quotas in Politics. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from:
http://www.rrpp-westernbalkans.net/en/library/Research-Results/Albania/Monitoring-
Albania-s-Steps-Towards-Gender-
Equality/mainColumnParagraphs/0/text_files/file/faqosje%20ang.pdf

Date: 18.11.17

Questions: Specific things (laws, programs, actions) government did to solve the issue of
gender inequality.

Summary:

- Population of women: 1,605,900/3,169,100

- Unemployment of women: 28.4%

- Women engaged in economic activity: 49%

- Women are underrepresented Parliament and other areas of political or public decision-making.
(Effect)

- Government Solutions:

Gender Equality:

-The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities was made responsible for
promoting gender equality via amendments to the Gender Equality Act of 2004.

- Albania had created a draft law, On An Equal Gender Society, which would be against
gender-base violence. However, in the late 2008, it is still under consideration.

- Government accepted to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

Against Women (CEDAW). They also take up on planning national strategies and plans of
action against gender-based violence and gender equality.

Domestic Violence:
 - The Law on Measures Against Violence in Family Relations was entered into force in June
1st 2007. This was designed to prevent and reduce domestic violence, and to guarantee
victims protection.

- Article 88: Serious intentional injury punishment: three to ten years of imprisonment

- Article 89: Non-serious intentional injury punishment: pay fine or be imprisoned for two
years

- Article 90: Other intentional harm punishment: pay fine or six months of imprisonment

- Article 93: Interruption of pregnancy without womans approval punishment: pay fine or
5 years in prison

Analysis and opinion:

Women have to rely mostly on men as the country changed from being communist to free market.
They are mostly unemployed, so they are lack of jobs. Therefore, they dont earn any income, so
they have to be economically dependent on men.

For the law of domestic violence, I dont think many women (victims) would go report the police due
to several reasons. Firstly, some victims do not see domestic violence as a crime, so they just ignore
it and dont go report. Second, they might be shy and embarrass. They might also fear of reporting
as they might bring shame to their families.

References:

Violence against Women in Albania. (2009, Jan). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from:
http://www.stopvaw.org/albania

Date: 27.11.17

Questions: Are there any solution in solving the unequal treatment of women in work?

Summary:

- In 2016, Albanian companies sign womens empowerment principles to advance gender equality in
business

Principle 1: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality

Principle 2: Treat all women and men fairly at work - respect and support human rights and
non-discrimination

Principle 3: Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers

Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional development for women

 Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that
empower women

Principle 6: Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy

Principle 7: Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality

Analysis and opinion:

In my opinion, I think women have enough potential to work in higher position and become succeed.
Women may be better than men as they have to push themselves up so that they are accepted in
the society. Women are not encouraged to go school, but men do. It is easier for men to enter a
school or university and get education, but women have to work really hard to get educated. Also,
many work places want men employees and they are more likely to accept men into their companies
than women. If we look on the other side, women are more likely to work harder as they have to
push themselves up because they dont get the opportunity like men. They are more tolerating to
the pressure as they always get them before in their life. However, men always be provided with
opportunities, position and education. This can make them become lazy because they always get
everything without them trying hard.

References:

Albanian companies sign Women's Empowerment Principles to advance gender

equality in business. (2016, Dec 19). Retrieved November 27, 2017, from:
http://eca.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/12/albanian-companies-sign-
womens-empowerment-principles-to-advance-gender-equality-in-business

Date: 28.11.17

Questions: Where (city or province) is the problem worse in your country - local level - and
state information/data/statistics showing how/why it is worse?

Summary:

- Almost one quarter of the population in Albania lives below the poverty level of US$2 a day. They
struggled from inadequate food and living costs.

- The poorest places in Albania are mostly at the Northern East where there mountains and they are
high lands. Kukes, Diber and Shkoder are the top poorest cities in Albania. Almost half of the
population there is poor and 80 per cent of families' income comes from social protection schemes,
economic assistance and disability payments.

- Headcount Poverty: (statistic)

Kukes: 21.8%

Diber: 13.0%
 Shkoder: 15.7%

Analysis and opinion:

We cant know exactly where the gender inequality is worst in the country because it is usual
measure out as the whole country, not in any specific area. Therefore, we will assume that the
poorest or where the poverty is would be where gender inequality is worst too. This is because
poverty is one of the causes of gender inequality and they links to each other. In poverty, there is
lack of education, so most people dont understand about human rights and gender equality. They
mostly believe and rely on culture and religion, which sometimes can cause gender inequality. For
example, Muslim girls have to wear hijab and most cultures believe that women should be the one
who stay home, they dont get education and they dont get to go out for work.

References:

Rural poverty in Albania. (n.d.) Retrieved November 28, 2017, from:

http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/rural-poverty-portal/country/home/tags/albania
World Data Atlas. (2012). Retrieved November 28, 2017, from:
https://knoema.com/atlas/Albania/Kukes?compareTo=AL-09,AL-10