Municipality, public administration and education institutions of Korçë engaged in protecting LGBTI people

Korçë 5-6 November – PINK Embassy held on 5 and 6 November the second round of trainings with specialists of Korçë Municipality, Regional Directorates of Public Health, Social Services, Police etc as well as psychologists, social workers and teachers of the region’s high schools.

Around 60 experts received detailed information on LGBTI concepts and were introduced with the findings of the latest study which measures the perceptions of the general population and the LGBTI  community on issues concerning the latter group.  

As the findings of the study reveal, only 1 in 10 Albanians know the correct definition of LGBTI. 42% of Albanian parents think that homosexuality is a disease which can be cured and around 40% of LGBTI people feel discriminated in the workplace. These statistics and the negative prejudices surrounding LGBTI people made it a necessity for PINK Embassy to start working with local governments and authorities of the cities of Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, Shkodër, Vlorë and Korçë.

One of the main points of the training with Municipality employers was the drafting of a plan of measures which deals with combating discrimination and hate speech, increase social acceptance, offer protection from bullying and discrimination in the schools, protection in the workplace and the family environment etc. Many LGBTI people are victims of discrimination in their family environment and often such problems affect their physical and emotional wellbeing.

This draft plan will be the first model that the Korçë Municipality can use in the near future for a more effective protection of LGBTI persons’ rights.

In the coming months PINK Embassy will host a national conference where it will ask for these plans of measures to turn into concrete actions from Municipalities for an effective protection of LGBTI rights. Also it is necessary for the National Action Plan of the Government of the Republic of Albania for the years 2015-2020 to include to be reflected in these local action plans.