Hearing on the social issues that affect the less developed and remote areas in Albania

 March 25, 2024 

An increased level of citizen engagement in parliamentary decision-making is essential for a sound democratic society. Based on this, IDM developed a series of workshops from October to November 2023 in different regions of Albania, focusing on informing about the mechanisms of citizens’ engagement with the Parliament and empowering interest groups to advocate their concerns effectively. In this context, the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) held a hearing with members of the Committee for Labour, Social Affairs and Health and representatives of civil society, informal community groups and various groups to discuss the social issues that affect the areas less developed and peripheral in Albania.

The hearing facilitated the development of a constructive dialogue among Members of Parliament, representatives of line ministries, civil society, informal community groups, and various interest groups, primarily from the regions of Malësia e Madhe, Kukës, and Dibra.During the constructive discussions of the participants, the problems related to the migration of young people and the depopulation of these areas, the lack of plans and policies for the development of rural and mountainous areas, the challenges of rural women in accessing the social contribution scheme and issues of inheritance of ownership, lack of health services and other support services for residents in rural areas and problems of implementing comprehensive education, including collective classes, poor quality of teaching, etc.

The discussions and concerns raised during this hearing were addressed by experts in these fields through analytical briefs for MPs on parliamentary committees that can be downloaded below:

• Challenges of pre-university education in the peripheral rural areas of Albania 

• Recommendations for curbing irregular immigrant flows 

• Social problems in rural and suburban areas in Albania 

Through open discussion and exchange of ideas, a voice is given to the social problems in these areas and together with the interested groups we identify sustainable approaches to effectively address them.

This initiative is part of the “Increasing Parliament’s Responsiveness to Citizen Concerns” project, implemented by IDM, the Albanian Institute of Science (AIS) and Citizens Channel, with the financial support of the British Government.