Albania: Parliament holds a public hearing on children's rights

[TIRANA, 21 November 2006] - The Parliamentary Sub-Commission for Juveniles and Equal Opportunities organised an open public hearing on the children's rights situation in Albania, in cooperation with the Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania (CRCA), which was supported for this activity by the Olof Palme International Centre and SIDA Sweden.

"I would like to thank the Parliamentary sub-Commission for Minors and especially its Chairwoman Ms. Majlinda Bregu, for the continuous interest and dedication they have shown for children's rights in Albania - said for E-news Mr. Altin Hazizaj, Director of CRCA. We are establishing a new tradition for the Albanian Parliament, which through these open public hearings, gets the possibility to know better the problems that children face, and to consult publicly with NGOs and civil society in Albania. For us at CRCA this is a sign of maturity of democracy in the country."

The Public Hearing was organised on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the framework of public consultations that the sub-Commission holds regularly with NGOs and civil society in Albania. This is not the first time that the sub-Commission holds a Public Hearing on children, but yesterday's session was the first one to take into consideration all child rights issues. The Public Hearing was attended by more than 30 representatives of NGOs, civil society and media in Tirana.

Ms. Majlinda Bregu, the Chairwoman of the sub-Commission for juveniles under the presence of two other MPs opened the Hearing Session by thanking all the representatives for continuously talking to the Commission. Then she explained major initiatives that the sub-Commission and the Albanian Government have taken during the recent months to improve the legislation that can guarantee respect for children's rights in the country.

"We have seen during the recent years an improvement of the respect for children's rights by the Government, family and society at large", said to the Commission Mr. Altin Hazizaj, Director of CRCA and one of the organisers of the Public Hearing. "But at the same time we still face violations of children's rights. We believe that only through the approval of new legislation can we build the bases for the establishment of a solid system of child protection and care in Albania."

Speakers at the public hearing included Ms. Brikena Zogaj of Save the Children, who spoke about the positive and negative aspects of education on children's right; Ms. Suela Kusi, of the Albanian Children's Alliance, who raised concerns related to foster care and budgeting for children; Ms. Snezhi Bedalli, of the ILO/IPEC Office in Albania, who provided the Commission with some major proposals for the elimination of child labour and exploitation - she also said that the Albanian Government should take responsibility for successful models and services for children established by NGOs; Ms. Etilda Saliu, of the Albanian Helsinki Committee, who presented her concerns related to juveniles in conflict with the law in Albania, and asked the Commission to press for change of legislation and policies for this group.

At the end, it was agreed in principle that the sub-Commission for Juveniles and Equal Opportunities would hold a similar event on children's rights situation every year, and Ms. Bregu guaranteed that she and the sub-Commission that she chairs will continue to support all NGO / civil society initiatives for the improvement of legislation for children in Albania.

For more information on this issue, please contact:
Ms. Blerina Metaj
Information Coordinator
Tel / Fax: + 355 4 242264
E-mail: [email protected]
www.crca.org.al

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