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

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

Shkoder Observatory – November 15, 2011

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

The Observatory office of Children’s Rights – Shkoder has organized roundtable discussions with local actor’s to inform them about the Draft – “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 improve it further:

  • It’s necessary to have supporting teachers for children who are integrated in normal schools and to have trained these teachers so they will be able to perform positively, which is not always the case.
  • It is necessary to train and provide courses to support teachers, and also provide informative courses for primary teachers in order to teach them the job and the role of supporting teachers.
  • Primary teachers and supporting teachers should collaborate between them.
  • It is important to have educational programs and books for children with disabilities.
  • An education possibility should be provided for pupils who could not follow school during their chronological age.
  • Independent actors should be proposed to deal with issues regarding  trustees’ families.

The punishment of minors should be given according to defensive structures.

Shkodër Observatory – August 29, 2013

Shkodër on August 29th, 2013

Information regarding the meeting organised in Shkodër 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 Shkodër in collaboration with the Children’s Rights Unit and support from UNICEF representatives in Albania, on the 29th of August 2013, organised in the conference room of the District of Shkodër, the first meeting with the team responsible for the implementation of 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”.

 

In this meeting were participants the representatives of local institutions (Regional Office of the Regional Social Service; Regional Health Department Shkodër), 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. Afterwards, 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 Fier and Kukës.

 

Mrs. Anila Gurakuqi presented an exposé of the Observatory’s work, achievements and successful collaboration with regional institutions; civil society organisations and especially with the Children’s Rights Unit and the Social Services Department at the Shkodër District Council.

The representative of the Children’s Rights Unit, Mr. Jozef Serrmi, stated that this project is important and indispensable for the coordination of problematic cases of children that need to be included in social services. He accentuated the fact that the situation in the District of Shkodër does not look well regarding the creation of Children’s Rights Units near the Communes. From 33 administrative unit of the district only 7 units, including the Municipality of Shkodër, have built the Children’s Rights Unit.

 

– The project’s office RIDE will make possible the coordination and harmonisation of all social welfare structures on a regional and local level, in order to make certain that no child gets excluded from exercising their rights. Such thing will be realised by networking challenges/difficulties, current achievements and capacities. This new initiative will help offering integrated services for children (not only benefits from the economic assistance scheme, but from other social welfare fields as well).

– Encouraging and lobbing for local units to create Children’s Rights Units. It is important to further empower these new structures and enable them to refer; orient; coordinate and also solve problematic cases of children in collaboration with other actors (Mr. Jozef, CRU).

– Problematic are the cases of uneducated children. From a visit of the director of World Vision Shkodër in the village Bardhaj of the Commune of Rrehina, it resulted that there were uneducated children in 3 families. It is important that these individual cases become issues to be resolved. During the meeting regarding these specific cases, Mrs. Neta Pero, oriented and informed the participants that it is possible to attend school by correspondence at the Primary school ‘’P. Vasa’’ Shkodër. The participants had the opportunity to exchange information and practices regarding solving and coordinating cases of children.

– It is recommended that the Children’s Protection Unit functions in Communes as a specific structure. Article 39 of the children’s legal framework, 1st point, determines that it can be a specific structure or as unit of the social affairs structures. The great amount of work requires that specialised people in children affairs are responsible for this unit. (Mrs. Arlinda from World Vision)

– The case referring mechanism must be more functional and be further empowered. The law has clearly determined inter institutional links and those of the civil society but there must be more cooperation between them. (Mrs. Alketa, Director of the Regional Social Service).

– The structures of the Children’s Protection Units in the Communes and the structures responsible for the coordination of work cases, performance and reciprocal collaboration must be supervised. The organisation of monthly meetings or every 2 months is highly recommended to share cases, distribute reports in order to create good practices for the solving of problematic cases. (Mr. Altin from the Psychological Counselling Centre).

– Building an online database of all referred cases for solving from local actors. (Mrs. Elma, National Observatory).

-Define case referring procedures and appropriate protocol.

The Commune of Postribë and the Commune of Ana e Malit refer that they currently have 9 problematic cases. (The Commune of Postribë has 5 cases and the Commune of Ana e Malit has 4 cases). The employee of the Children’s Protection Unit in the Commune of Postribë accentuates the accuracy of the law but currently the work of this unit is based on good will and individual morals for solving problematic cases. Detail the work description of the CPU employee in the Communes and ask local government to increase the number of employees in this structure.  (Mr. Dashamir, CPU Postribë).

– The lack of a psychologist in the schools of the Commune is an issue that needs to be addressed. In the Commune there is no psychologist and in the city one psychologist works with 2500 students. The amount of work does not permit the offering of a qualitative service.

– SOS Villages for children address the issue of 3 orphans regarding accommodation and inclusion in the economic assistance scheme. Also, orphans leaving the orphanages are a highlighted problem. They have difficulties to be included in social life and often are victims of abuse.  (Mrs. Jonida, SOS Shkodër).

 

Prepared by:

Anilda Gurakuqi (Shestani)

Observatory for Children’s Rights Expert, Shkodër