LGBTI with a new Action Plan in Albania

Tirana, 10^th of November 2020 – PINK Embassy in Albania and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Foundation organized the Forum "A new Action Plan for LGBTI persons in Albania: Lessons learned and recommendations!". This Plan is drafted by Pink Embassy in Albania, in consultation with young people, civil society organizations and experts in the field of human rights. It incorporates priority areas which are considered highly necessary to be included in the new Action Plan for LGBTI People in Albania. This forum gathered representative from public institutions, civil society, LGBTI community, experts, public officials, etc.

Safety and protection from violence, hate speech and crimes, prevention and elimination of discrimination, safe and friendly schools, provision of social services such as housing and employment, support and compensation for LGBTI political prisoners in the past are the main topics on which the National Plan is based. 

Throughout the Forum were discussed and analyzed the problems encountered during the implementation of the previous Action Plan, hence bringing to new recommendations based on this previous experience. The previous National Action Plan for LGBTI People in Albania 2016-2020 has been a document drafted by the Albanian Government under the coordination of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

Discussions about the previous 4-year plan identified the main areas in which the National Action Plan had a positive impact and the difficulties encountered in its implementation. These findings helped in addressing the recommendations for the new Action Plan drafted for LGBTI persons. Also, in this forum, a key focus was the presentation of the findings of the 10-year Report about LGBTI Rights in Albania.

Based on the findings of the report, the forum highlighted the situation of denied and violated rights of LGBTI persons. The forum addressed concrete recommendations to all public institutions to improve this situation.