WeBER

WeBER INITIATIVE

 

The citizen says his word on the efficiency of Public Administration at the local level

Observatory for Children’s Rights (Observatory) in the framework of the Public Administration Reform (PAR), is implementing the “WeBER” initiative on “Monitoring the effectiveness of the performance of local government administration through citizens’ opinion”.

This initiative is being implemented in 2 municipalities and respectively in  Municipality of Tirana and  Municipality of Cerrik. The pilot zone of the initiative are the administrative units No. 5, 6, Dajt and Petrela on Municipality of Tirana and Cerrik and Gostimi on Municipalities of Cerrik. The duration of the initiative is 7 months, June – December 2017. The main purpose of the initiative is to assess the public opinion (residents) about the transparency of local government, the services provided, the best forms of public information and the effectiveness of public administration.

This initiative is funded by the European Union and co-financed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Small Grants Instrument of the “WeBER – Enabling Western Balkan Countries for Monitoring the Reform in Public Administration by Civil Society” project implemented by the Institute for Democracy and Mediation in Albania (IDM). The project will be realized through the implementation of some measuring instruments that will serve to measure the perceptions of community opinion and local administration staff as; questionnaires and interviews. Meetings on communities and with public administration staff of local government units during which the initiatives and targets to be achieved will be presented and they are also part of the activities of the implementation process. Promoting public dialogue will be achieved through 2 face-to-face meetings with participation of the community and the local administration where the results of both sides’ opinion and their comparison will be disclosed in terms of the performance of the administration in Municipality of Tirana and Municipality of Cerrik.

At the end of the implementation of the initiative will be presented at a final meeting findings, recommendations and comparison of best experiences. The main activities of the WeBER initiative will be made public at all times of its implementation on the Observatory’s web site: www.observator.org.al  on facebook: Observatory for Children’s Rights and on other media.

For anyone interested in knowing more about the initiative implemented by the Observatory, may contact the following email address: info@observator.org.al  and contact person: z.kondi@observator.org.al

#EU_WeBER

 

This project is funded by the European Union and co-financed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Small Grants Instrument of the “WeBER – Enabling Western Balkan Countries for Monitoring the Reform in Public Administration by Civil Society” project implemented in Albania by the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM).

Enrollment of children in 1st grade

The enrollment of pupils in the first grade is done pursuant to article 13 of Chapter IV “Primary Education” of the Normative Provisions on the pre-university educational system, 2013.

Procedures for the enrollment of pupils in the first grade
1. The enrollment of students in the first grade of primary education for the new academic year is done during the last two weeks of June.
a. During the first six days, only the pupils who live in the school area are eligible to enroll in the first grade of a public school. When the distance of the child’s residence from two public schools is debatable, the parent chooses one of the two schools.
b. Students belonging to other school areas are entitled to enroll in the next four days. The special registrations are admissible until the first days before the start of the school year in September.
2. Pursuant to the implementation of the joint Order no. 2, dated 05.01.2015 “On the approval of the regulation for the implementation of the cooperation Agreement, dated 02.08.2013 “On the identification and school enrollment of all children of compulsory school age”, every educational institution must apply the list of children’s names sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
3. The documents needed to enroll the child in the first grade are:
a. The birth certificate of the child.
b. Confirmation of vaccination from the health center.
c. Ophthalmologist’s report.
d. Child’s address.
e. Confirmation of kindergarten attendance by groups, signed by the director of the kindergarten (if any).
4. In special cases, when a parent wants to enroll a child in the first grade, but:
a. does not have a birth certificate, the school principal allows the child to attend school according to the age claimed by the parent and, according to the circumstances, gives the parent a deadline for the submission of the certificate;
b. does not have the confirmation of vaccination, the school principal asks the parent to address the matter to the relevant health center and, enrolls the child after receiving the confirmation.

We bring to your attention:
Free transportation for students attending kindergarten or primary education who live at a distance of over 2 km away from the school (Item 1.b, Decision “On the use of public funds to transport the educational staff and students who work and study outside the residence”).
Free textbooks for children: victims of trafficking, in detention/sentenced, admitted to the Oncology Service, children of police officers fallen on duty, Roma and Egyptian Children and beneficiaries in public residential social care institutions. (Item 6.9 of the Decision no. 707, dated 26. 08.2015 “On the publication, printing, distribution and sale of textbooks for pre-university education system,” as amended”)

 

Waiting for 1st of June 2017….#UneMbrojfemijet#InvestOnChildren

Waiting for 1st of June 2017….#UneMbrojfemijet#InvestOnChildren

Award “Child Protection Workers of the Year”

“Child Protection Organization of the Year”

 

This award has the aim of evaluation of the extraordinary contribution for children of individuals and organizations, for protecting them from any form of violence – by promoting positive and inspirational examples.

The award will be given on 1st of June, as an initial of yearly tradition.

The criteria’s for the Award “Child protection workers of the year”:

  1. To be an employee of the Child Protection Unit and have more than 5 years of working experience.
  2. Have made an extraordinary contribution to protecting children from violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation by bringing changes in the lives of children and families.
  3. To have managed a significant number of cases, applying quality case management procedures.
  4. To be active and cooperate with actors from various public, private, donor, NGO and public awareness-raising community in the field of child protection issues.

The criteria’s for the Award “Child Protection Organization of the Year” (NGO)

  1. To be an NGO registered in the Republic of Albania for more than 5 years.
  2. To have focus on child labor rights and be known in child protection work for abuse, exploitation, violence, or neglect.
  3. To have provided community support and contributing to capacity building of public institutions and / or childcare providers.

 

The prize will be “Participation in an international training” provided by Childhub.org

 

Candidates can be nominated at elona.halilosmani@femijet.gov.al until May 25, 2017. The proposal should contain a short argument (max 150 words) on the proposed candidacy. The candidates will be evaluated and selected by the MOSWY Evaluation Commission.

 

Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth

Olta Xhacka

UNICEF Albania

Observatori për të Drejtat e Fëmijëve / Observatory for Children’s Rights

Terre des hommes Albania

Workshop, consultation and debate for Out of School Children

Tirana, 27 January 2016

Workshop, consultation and debate

Out of School Children- Phase II

Observatory for Children’s Rights, Ministry of Education and Sports in partnership with UNICEF Albania, have realized the Workshop, consultation and debate in the framework of the initiative “Every child in school”.

“Out of school children”, an initiative of MoES, in partnership with UNICEF is implemented by the Observatory for Children’s Rights. This initiative started in 2013 and was followed by the Observatory for Children’s Rights from 2014 onward, with the aim of identifying and registering in school all children of compulsory education age as well as preventing school leave by children who are at risk of dropping out. This initiative aims to establish adequate mechanisms that facilitate the attendance of school from every child of compulsory school age till 9 grade.

This Workshop has collected together representatives of Regional Education Directories, Education Officces, MoES specialists, as well as other experts tasked with collecting data for the registration and keeping the children in school enrollment, in Albania.

workshop-cdo_femije_ne_shkolle

Recommendations and debates on National Action Plan for Children 2012-2015

The beginning of school year 2015-2016

Free textbooks distribution and debate for basic needs of Roma and Egyptian children for the school year 2015-2016

Kukes Observatory – November 14, 2011

COMMENTS ABOUT THE DRAFT: PLAN OF ACTION 2010 – 2015 ON THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR CHILDREN

The Observatory office of Children’s Rights – Kukes has organized roundtable discussions with local actors to inform them about the “Plan of Action 2011 – 2015 on the National Strategy for Children” formulated by MOLSAEO ( Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities). Moreover the Observatory has taken into account the actor’s opinion regarding this draft in order to develop it further:

  • The competences of Pre – University Education should be transferred to the Local Governance Units.
  • Families in need should have access to all services.
  • Talented children of poor families should be stimulated.
  • Psychologist services should cover the entire Region.
  • The role of students’ Governments at school should be enhanced by supporting them financially.
  • The number of the doctor’s at PHD (Public Health Directorate), especially in rural areas, should be increased.
  • A web – page should be created in order to provide information to all institutions.
  • Social Administrators should intervene to prevent severe episodes in cases of children in need.
  • The infrastructure of schools for children with physical and mental disabilities should be improved.
  • To facilitate the doctor’s job by reducing the number of the obligatory documents to be completed.
  • To organize studies regarding the Public Health conditions of the  population
  • The Institutions should take their individual responsibility for the referred cases of children in risk and should not neglect these cases as it generally happens.
  • The hospital should not be used as a shelter for abandoned children, but the necessary measures must be taken in order to accommodate these children in the relevant Institutions.
  • The Plan of Action should suit the specific needs of the Regions.
  • The financing of the dorms should be predicted in order to prevent the growth of collective classes.
  • The foreign languages curricula should be included in the rural regions school’s program.
  • To create a control mechanism such that each Institution will take its own responsibilities.
  • Local Governance Units should channel more recourses of their budget to children’s needs.

Kukës Observatory – 28 August 2013

Kukës on 28th August, 2013

Information regarding the meeting organised in Kukës in the framework of the project “Empowering Social Welfare Services on a regional level, as a response to the implementation of non social exclusion policies for children – RIDE”

The Observatory for Children’s Rights in Kukës in collaboration with the District Council of Kukës and with support from the representatives of UNICEF in Albania on the 28th of August 2013 in the conference room of the District Council of Kukës organised the first meeting with the team responsible for the implementation of the project “Empowering Social Welfare Services on a regional level, as a response to the implementation of non social exclusion policies for children”.

In this meeting were participants the representatives of local institutions (Police Department of the District of Kukës, Regional Educational Department – Kukës, Regional Office of the Labour State Unit etc), representatives of local NGO-s, employees of the children’s rights unit in the commune and social administrators.

 

The meeting was organised according to the program by starting with the presentation of the participants and the welcoming speech was given to the Chairman of the District of Kukës, Mr. Ibsen Elezi, who guaranteed his continuous support in the successful realisation of this project.

Afterwards, Mr. Jonuz Kola, Executive Director of the association ALB-AID, gave his speech in support of this initiative, that will affect positively on the social care policies for children..

Mrs. Elma Tërshana, director of the project, presented the activity of the Observatory for Children’s Rights and the project “Empowering of Social Welfare Services for Children on a regional level, as a response to the implementation of non social exclusion policies for children”.

This project, among other things, aims at identifying cases of child abuse that the current protection system cannot identify. If we talk about children who live in poverty and are part of the economic assistance scheme, we must include in this poverty definition also families whose application to economic assistance has been declined or even those families that because of procedures cannot apply at all. Also the participants received information regarding the territorial expansion of the project in the districts of Shkodër e Fier.

The participants asked questions and discussed regarding the situation of children’s rights in the District of Kukës, also they asked that cases that are identified by regional office should be discussed every month by the team;

Some of the conclusions of this meeting were:

– To build the cooperation network and by September 2013 to organise the second meeting.

– Cases that are discussed in the meeting must me documented and the team should immediately start working on solving problems.

– To contact all local units of the district and build the cooperation network with all these units.

 

Prepared by:

Shkëlqim Muça

Observatory for Children’s Rights Expert, Kukës