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

Roundtable, Juvenile Justice

Tirana, 16 December 2016

Round table for  the Report “With the voice of children deprived of their liberty”

The People’s Advocate, in collaboration with the Observatory for Children’s Rights and UNICEF launched the report “With the voice of children deprived of their liberty: monitoring of the conditions and treatment in the institutions of custody, pre-trial detention, and prisons”.

The report includes the findings and recommendations from the monitoring during August – Decmeber 2016 in Police Stations of Tirana, Institution for Serving of Criminal Sentences (ISCS) in Kavajë and Shën Kollë (Lezhë).

This report is prepared by a group of specialists in the field of human rights, justice and sociology and cognitive of international standards, in terms of juvenile justice. These experts, who developed the methodology and questionnaires, followed fieldwork for conducting the monitoring, analyzed data and prepared the report.

Some of the findings and recommendations

21 children interviewed for the purposes of this assessment. Sixteen of them belonged to the age group 16–18 years and five to the group 14–16 years.

  1. Seven children, only one third of the sample, had completed mandatory education. There seems to be a strong correlation between school non-attendance and conflict with the law among juveniles in Albania.
  2. For most of the children interviewed both parents were present in the family setting and were the income providers. High levels of poverty and a lack of possibility for parents to be more involved in the rearing of their children were the main factors that emerged during the interviews as causes for delinquent behaviour.
  3. The Kavaja facility seems to be well staffed and, during the time of the visit, the ratio of staff to juveniles in detention was two to one.
  4. Staff of ISCS Lezhë is low and has difficulty to realize the juvenile needs, for approximate 700 individulas.
  5. Fifteen respondents stated that they were informed of their rights upon arrest.
  6. With only one exception, respondents were given medical information and screening.
  7. The staff respondents were unable to understand and discuss special psychological care for the children.
  8. There is lack of regularity in medical examination for incarcerated juveniles.
  9. About half of the respondents were in triple-shared accommodation.
  10. While bedding and mattresses were available there were no provisions for clothing. In the Kavaja facility clothing is donated by civil society and aid-based organisations.
  11. Half of the respondents responded positively about education provisions. Qualified teaching staff to implement courses of compulsory education and vocational training seem to be missing.
  12. Nine children claimed to have been harmed, four of whom in the police commissariat.
  13. Abuse was reported, and in one case denounced
  14. Mistreatment was evident during the monitoring visits to the Shën Koll facility.
  15. Kavaja facility staff were trained by UNICEF and Save the Children in how to deal with children.
  16. There were no reports of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
  17. Sixteen respondents claimed to have good relationships with others.
  18. Respondents had regular family visits, weekly or monthly. They also accessed information via telephone (20) or TV (14).
  19. Legal services were not provided free by the institution of incarceration.

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

Information about the floods occurring in Albania during January 2016

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

The beginning of school year 2015-2016