Partners Albania Newsletter "Towards a Sustainable Society"

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

EDITION NO. 68

APRIL 2019

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY Launching of the National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania

In this issue:

On April 5th, 2019, Partners Albania launched the National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania, a platform for civil society at the national level to support its capacity building, policy dialogue and advocacy efforts for an enabling environment.

Norway Civil Society Program - Page 2

National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania is an initiative of Partners Albania, funded by the European Union, and implemented in partnership with the Albanian Center for Population and Development (ACPD) and the European Movement in Albania (EMA).

The ultimate goal of NRC is to have a civil society sector, which is an effective, accountable and independent actor in the democratization and integration processes of Albania towards European Union.

EMBRACE Project - Page 3 Starts

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The event was organized with the special participation of His Excellency Mr. Luigi Soreca, Ambassador of the European Union to Albania and Ms. Genoveva Ruiz-Calavera, Director of DG NEAR for the Western Balkans.

In her speech Ms. Calavera emphasized that “good governance is a key political requirement for a country aspiring to join the EU family and good governance is also about the level of civil society engagement and structured participation in dialogues on reforms”.

Moreover, Ms. Calavera highlighted the crucial role played by civil society in Albania during the last 3 decades generating changes specifically to pushing forward the justice reform.

Ms. Calavera stressed the importance that the involvement of all interested partners in policy-making has for the European Union and the strengthening of civil society as a valuable asset in the protection of democracy, emphasizing the importance of the establishment of the National Resource Centre for Civil Society and its provision of services in this framework.

International Conference on SE - Page 6

Philanthropy Awards 2018 Page 7

Giving Circle Albania - Page 8

Conceived as a World Café, the event provided a forum for discussion among all participating stakeholders, on the challenges of creating an enabling environment for CSOs. Issues and challenges of the civil society sector inclusion in policy and decision-making, the enabling legal environment and the provision of services to citizens and public institutions

Latest publications

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Public participation and Consultation - Page 10

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“White Dove”Awards”

www.thealbaniancrowd.org

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by the civil society sector as a social partner, were at the focus of the discussion. The recommendations and suggestions provided by this Forum, will be shared through the National Resource Center for Civil Society at national, regional and wider level with all actors involved in creating an enabling environment for CSOs.

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The Civil Society Programme for Albania and Kosovo Partners Albania launched in September 2018 the Civil Society Programme for Albania and Kosovo. It is a three-year programme (2018-2021) funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pristina. The lead implementing organization of the programme is the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) with Partners Albania for Change and Development as partner organization.

The overall goal of the programme is to support the democratic participation and development of a strong and vibrant civil society in Albania and Kosovo, by supporting NGOs that advance the EU accession process through contribution to one of the following five thematic areas:

• • • • •

Non-discrimination and gender equality; Independent media; Minorities and marginalized groups; Environment protection; Anti-corruption.

In the first Call of the sub-granting scheme under this program, were announced seven winning projects for Albania, that will contribute to the five thematic areas of the program.

On February 25th, in the presence of H.E. Mr. Per Strand Sjaastad, Ambassador of Norway for the Republic of Kosovo and Albania, the winning organizations presented the plans, objectives and expected results of their projects.

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Partners Albania presented in February 2019 Monitoring the Right to Free Assembly - Report for Albania 2017 2018.

This report prepared for the second consecutive year by Partners Albania presents an analysis of the legal framework, monitoring of its implementation in practice, and data from consultations with civil society organizations, media and experts in the field of the right and freedom to peaceful assembly.

In a roundtable meeting, representatives of the institutions responsible for guaranteeing the freedom of assembly such as the State Police and the Ombdusman, as well as experts and representatives of civil society, discussed problems that are encountered in practice regarding the organization of the assemblies, both by the organizers and by the state authorities.

Monitoring the Right to Free Assembly Report for Albania 2017 – 2018

They also provided recommendations for future advocacy initiatives in addressing the issues with the current legal framework and its practical implementation in exercising the right to peaceful assembly.

The monitoring report was conducted as part of the ‘Monitoring the Right to Free Assembly’ regional project, managed by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL). The project is made possible by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) through the Civic Space Initiative.

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EMBRACE – Entrepreneurship Models Building Relations and Creative Economy For more than a year, Partners Albania is implementing the innovative project “EMBRACE – Entrepreneurship Models Building Relations and Creative Economy”.

Along with the promotion of a constructive dialogue and advocacy efforts for an enabling financial and legal environment of SEs, the project will contribute to enhance the capacities of CSOs to initiate or strengthen social business initiatives. In addition, the

The initiative “Eco-Social Farm for Social Inclusion”, is being implemented by The Door, Shkodër.

project focuses on increasing awareness on social entrepreneurship and sharing good models and success stories, building relations and partnership with the business sector and supporting concrete initiatives of CSOs related to social entrepreneurship, addressing societal challenges and fostering inclusive development.

Partners Albania announced in February, the winners for the first open Call for Proposals under the project EMBRACE.

The initiative “Recycling of wastes as an alternative for the employment of women” is being implemented by Zejtarët e Veriut, Shkodër.

“New horizons for disadvantaged and long-term unemployed women in Fushe-Arrez” project, is implemented by Qendra Sociale në Ndihmë të Njerëzve në Nevojë, Fushë Arrëz.

Through Partners’ Albania financial support, these five entrepreneurship initiatives will contribute to the social inclusion of disadvantaged groups such as unemployed women, children with special needs. The initiatives will foster the economic development of local communities in different areas of Albania, intervening in areas such as tourism, social services, and artisan products.

“Mapping Tirana Trails and making it available through a website and a mobile application” is an initiative of Tirana Ekspres.

“Empowering Jonathan Center with financial sustainability through its social business” project, is implemented by Jonathan Center, Tirana

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY On the International Down Syndrome Day, the European Union Ambassador Luigi Soreca visited Bar-Cafe “Te Xhoni” established by Jonathan Center.

This social enterprise contributes to the employment and integration of young people with Down Syndrome. The revenues generated by the café ensure the provision of free services for this category.

From the training and assistance program with the second group of participating organizations in the program, and the winners of the First Call for Projects.

The project “EMBRACE – Entrepreneurship Models Building Relations and Creative Economy” is implemented by Partners Albania for Change and Development in partnership with Project Ahead (Italy), and funded by the European Union through the Delegation of the European Union to Albania.

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The 7th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum The EESC organised its 7th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum in Tirana on 16-17 April 2019. Mrs. Juliana Hoxha, Partners Albania director was one of the speakers on the Panel: Achieving an enabling civic space.

The forum brought together about 180 participants, including a broad range of civil society representatives from the EU and the Western Balkans, as well as representatives of EU institutions, international organisations and governments of the region. The main topics discussed were the role of civil society organisations in promoting regional cooperation, the state of social dialogue, as well as enabling civic space in the Western Balkans.

Starts the 2019 On 24 April we started the NPO Academy 2019, a consolidated program created by Partners Albania, that contributes to enhancement of capacities of NPO executives and managers in regard to organizational development and management, financial sustainability, advocacy for issues of common interest, strengthening of inter-sector cooperation etc.

NPO Academy 2019 is organized in the frame of the National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania, a project financed by the European Union and implemented by Partners Albania in partnership with the Albanian Center for Population and Development (ACPD) and the European Movement in Albania (EMA).

During the first lecture of the NPO Academy, focused on civil society sector development trends and NPO legal framework

International Civil Society Week (ICSW) 2019, Belgrade On April 8-12 was organized in Belgrade, Serbia the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) 2019. The event brought together over 1,000 civil society leaders, activists and concerned citizens across sectors, themes, regions to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges in the fields of human rights, democracy and international development.

In framework of International Civil Society Week 2019, local events were organized in various countries around the world. One of these events was the World Café Enabling Environment for Civil Society Organizations in Albania, organized by Partners Albania on April 5th in Tirana, Albania, where local civil society organizations and other stakeholders discussed on key issues and challenges of civil society in Albania. The event was supported by Balkan Trust for Democracy through the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN).

As part of ICSW2019 more than 30 key sessions and partner events were organized tackling a range of critical issues from emergency support for NGOs under attack to shrinking media freedoms to greater civil society accountability.

This year’s theme – ‘The Power of Togetherness’ – explored how people and organisations around the world can, and are, working together to enable and defend spaces for civic action in a world where global transformations are reshaping how civil society functions.

Mrs. Ariola Agolli, PA Director of Programs and Manager of the National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania, participated in several sessions presenting and discussing the development and challenges faced by civil society in Albania, development of social entrepreneurship etc.

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Since 2015, over 70 representatives of Albanian NPOs, with a wide geographic, sectorial distribution and gender representation, gained knowledge and skills in regard to effective management of their organizations in order to assist their stakeholders and wide public.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IN THE GREEN IDEAS 2019 COMPETITION ‘Green Ideas’ competition aims to stimulate and encourage innovation for green business ideas at the local level and explores the role of philanthropy in engaging local communities to generate green business ideas that utilize local resources and revitalize disappearing traditional production chains and community-based markets. By supporting innovative, local sustainable economic development initiatives, Philanthropy for Green Ideas aims to substantively contribute to building a peaceful, competitive, and prosperous Western Balkans region.

Value Statement: What does the “Green Ideas” competition stand for?

The “Green Ideas” competition works on the principles of: environmental responsibility, ethical conduct, diversity, inclusion, and empowerment, not dependency for the purpose of promoting the well-being of local communities, by boosting entrepreneurship and enabling people to understand and take control of their full potential.

The Main Purpose/Focus:

The aim of the “Green Ideas” competition is to support business initiatives that promote social inclusion, through integration and employment, and local economic development through environmentally friendly ideas.

Application criteria: • • • • • • •

It’s a green idea in an embryonic phase or in the initial phase of implementation; The project idea mobilizes the work and expertise of local resources and makes use of their traditional abilities; The project idea has a plan on how to grow the activity and financial sustainability; The project idea is based on a detailed business plan and is environment-friendly; The applying entity must show that has information or has performed an evaluation of local market showing the existing need; knows its competitors` and its idea presents competitive advantages; The project idea will support the revitalization of traditional local economies and link among people and community.

The project idea is innovative in comparison with other businesses and/or projects in the community.

Who can apply:

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The competition is open to:

• Individuals; • Civil society organizations; • Small business ventures. (with an annual turnover no more than 8,000,000 ALL)

Financial terms:

The grant will support green project ideas for no longer than one year and with maximum funding of no more than 650.000 ALL. Co-financing from alternative sources is encouraged.

The required documents: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Application Form Financial Form A document certifying the legal status of the applicant entity (Court registration and TIN) For individual applicants, in case their idea wins, before the signing of the contract they should register as a non-profit organization or small business according to the legislation in place.

Selection process:

The selection process will be conducted by a jury of experts from economic, environment, business and academia field.

The evaluation process will be conducted in two phases:

The first phase will consist of the selection of the ideas that fulfill the application criteria, selection to be made by Partners Albania; The second phase will consist of the selection of three best ideas by the Jury of experts, as part of an open public competition. This selection will be based in the pre-selection list from the first phase.

Three winning ideas will be automatically part of the regional competition organized by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, in Albania, on July 2019.

The deadline for sending applications is May 5, 2019 !

The application can be submitted electronically at: kkeruti@partnersalbania.org. Partners Albania will issue a second announcement about the date of the competition.

Monitoring process:

All winners at the national and regional level will sign a contractual relationship as part of this financing, where will be clearly defined the reporting requirements according to indicators set in the project idea and the funding agreement.

Format and language:

The presentation of the idea should be made in accordance with the criteria set out in the call, attached to a detailed budget. The budget should be in the form of a business plan showing the costs that are required to be covered by the Green Ideas Grant and co-financing if any for a one-year period. The project ideas should be presented in the Albanian language.

Supported by:

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“Social Enterprises - Toward and Inclusive Policy and Practice” Partners Albania in support of the development of social entrepreneurship in Albania, organized the international conference “Social Enterprises - Toward an Inclusive Policy and Practice”.

Considering the public debate on the importance of social enterprises and discussions about the legal framework in Albania, the conference aimed to enhance the dialogue and the advocacy efforts between social enterprises and state actors and to address the needs of the sector at the decision making policy level.

The presentations provided a comparative overview of global trends on legal and practical environment highlighting the best practices of social enterprises’ ecosystems. The conference was addressed by Mr. Mario Mariani, Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, Mrs. Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council, Mrs. Dajna Sorensen,

Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy and Mrs. Ardiana Jaku, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection.

The experts at regional and European level brought as an input to the public debate two other topics deemed as very important for the social enterprises’ activity such as a) Social Impact Investment and successful models in this regard; b) strategies and mechanisms on collaboration and partnership between Local Government and social enterprises based on the European experience.

At the end of the conference, a Statement was presented to relevant public institutions regarding the addressment of the main gaps in the legal framework on social enterprises.

The conference was supported by the European Union through the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, and the Open Society Foundation for Albania.

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Philanthropy Awards 2018 Partners Albania organized on the evening of 22nd February, the gala ceremony where the winners of Philanthropy Awards 2018 were announced.

Since 2011, Partners Albania organizes the Philanthropy Awards, a nationwide public competition to express appreciation and gratitude to individuals, families, and businesses who contribute to improving the quality of life in our society.

In the ceremony participated distinguished guests from the Albanian government and members of Albanian Parliament, representatives of diplomatic bodies accredited in Albania, international institutions and donor agencies, representatives of the business sector, nonprofit organizations and media.

The Award for Contribution at Local Level was granted to ANTEA Cement SH. A. with motivation: For continuous contribution to improve the life of communities in some administrative units in the Municipalities of Kruja and Kurbin, through interventions in infrastructure, health, innovation and social services. The award was presented by Ms. Mia Vukojevic, Program Director of Western Balkans of Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Special Award “Pioneer of Philanthropy” was granted to Mr. Ali Adil Agjah Bej Biçakçiu (posthumously), with motivation: For the outstanding contribution to the development of the Albanian national education, marking the first philanthropic case in Albania to donate all the wealth for the education. The award was presented

by Ms. Ema Andrea, Albanian actress.

The Award for Individual Contribution was granted to Mr. Alfred Muharremi, with motivation: For special support to children and young people without parental care, whom as their representative, advocates to ensure them social protection, education, and employment, as well as for creating a positive model for this community and for the whole Albanian society. The award was presented

by Mr. Mario Mariani, Head of Cooperation of EU Delegation in Albania.

Certificate of Appreciation was granted to Mrs. Liljana Luani, with motivation: For the valuable contribution and the precious, untiring work of more than fifteen years in the education and schooling of children isolated from the phenomenon of blood feuds, which with her dedication and personal investment, gives these children hope for the future. The Certificates of Appreciation was presented by Mr. Selami Xhepa, Dean of the Faculty of Economy, Business and Development at the European University of Tirana.

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

The Award for Contribution at National Level was granted to Trans Adriatic Pipeline with motivation: For continuous contribution and engagement in support of the sustainable development of communities, including among others the construction of the kindergarten in Pashalli village, and school “Llukë Mita” in Ura Vajgurore Municipality, as well as the reconstruction of the “Gjon Milli” museum building in Korça. The award was presented by Ms. Senida Mesi, Member of the Albanian Parliament.

Giving Circle Albania Partners Albania, in continuation of its initiatives for the promotion and development of philanthropy in Albania, aiming to increase public support to vulnerable groups, organized on December 4th the first LIVE crowd-funding event “Giving Circle”.

The Giving Circle event already organized in over 16 countries brings together individuals from different fields, who donate for social causes showing a high sensibility and human solidarity.

Giving Circle 2018 brought together representatives from the business sector, the donor community, civil society, media, art, etc. who offered financial and material support for three initiatives that will transform the life and bring sustainable social change for the vulnerable communities.

The total amount raised of 1,681,874 ALL was almost the double of the targeted amount, confirming once again the civic awareness toward social causes and groups in need. Thanks to the sensitivity of the issues and high media attention the event received, the initiatives continued to receive financial support from individuals who could not participate in the Giving circle event.

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Through donations received, Vizion OJF improved the kindergarten infrastructure in the village of Bllice, and provided toys and learning materials for the children.

The Down Syndrome Albania Foundation ensured funds to continue providing treatment for children with Down syndrome, children with autism spectrum and other learning difficulties.

The Association for the Rights of the Egyptian Community ensured financial and material support to the football team where play children form Roma and Egyptian communities.

The Giving Circle Albania 2018 event was supported by the European Union through the European Union Delegation in Albania as part of the activities of the project “EMBRACE – Entrepreneurship Models Building Relations and Creative Economy “, Balkan Trust for Democracy – a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Frederick Mulder Foundation, The Funding Network, Credins Invest, Telekom Albania, and Iceberg Communications.

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www.risialbania.al

Making the labour market work for young people in Albania RisiAlbania is a development project aimed at increasing the employment opportunities of young people. It is a SDC project, implemented by a consortium of partners comprised of Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and Partners Albania.

Some of the project’s activities for this period were:

Promoting Albanian fruits and vegetables exporters during FRUIT LOGISTICA FAIR Albania fruit producers and traders introduced among 90 countries at the FRUIT LOGISTICA FAIR in Berlin the advantages of their products to potential buyers and technology providers.

New opportunities for growth through the development of E-commerce & M-commerce

New investment and 25 young people employed in the BPO sector in Albania

Entrepreneurs with diaspora background – double gifted Masters of Business Stefan Joss, RisiAlbania project director, contributing to the “Sustainable Economic Development” panel during the 2nd Diaspora Summit organized in Tirana.

Piloting twinning & expertise exchanges between Swiss-Albanian businesses in agritourism We want tourists to stay longer in Albania, travel deeper into rural areas, and come all-year around as they do when they visit Switzerland. How we are doing that?

Creating the first group of 20 career counsellors in Albanian Universities

Career Orientation through Radio waves - reach, inform and influence young people

Enrich and expand your knowledge with Unipro Balkan Academy e-Learning platform New professional courses are available in Albanian for individuals and companies who want to train and certify their staff.

Equip young generation with skills required from the tourism market Hundred young people from Lezha and surrounding areas benefit from new professional training courses and getting ready for the tourism season.

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

Global G.A.P group certification, the gateway to competing in high value markets For the first time, Albania was the destination of GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR 2019. Clear instructions for applying and meeting the GLOBALG.A.P. standard can be found on the Agroquality platform.

Youth Bank Hub for Western Balkan and Turkey

Since January 2016, Partners Albania is one of the member organizations of the Youth Bank Hub for Western Balkans and Turkey network, together with organizations from Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey.

The network is working to improve youth participation in decision-making processes in Western Balkans and Turkey, through supporting capacity building of youth organizations, advocacy initiatives, and awareness-raising.

From the round table with representatives of state institutions and organizations working on youth issues, where we presented and discussed the findings of the Index of Political, Social & Economic Inclusion of Youth in Albania and the region. December 2018

One of the main activities of the network is the ongoing monitoring of the situation regarding the political, social and economic participation of young people. An Annual Report is prepared in each country by partner organizations measuring progress against a set of indicators which are uniform for the entire region.

Q.S.N.N.N is implementing a project that consists in creating a youth parliament as an innovative way to cooperate with Local Self-Government Units and to foster young people’s interest in proactive participation and contribution.

In 2018, the YBH4WBT network selected in each country, three local grantee organizations and partners in implementing the YBH model.

“Youth Act Center” from Tirana, “Epoka e Re” in Fier and the Social Center for Helping People in Need (QSNNN) in Fushë Arrëz, are the grantee organizations from Albania that are implementing youth initiatives in support of the groups they represent.

The project implemented by Epoka e Re consists in strengthening the capacities of young people through training and workshops, and their involvement in youth groups that are actively participating in decision-making processes at the local level.

The Youth Act’s project also consists in strengthening the capacities of young people through trainings on Activism and Volunteering, Culture and Mobility, Employment and Entrepreneurship.

Effective public consultation and engagement, other than a legal obligation of the Local Government Units, is an important process that contributes to a good and sustainable local governance.

To assist the LG units to improve this process in the respective municipalities, in framework of the project #STAR2, Partners Albania developed a “Guide to engagement and public consultation”, which was consulted and made available to the 61 municipalities accross the country, through a series of 12 regional workshops.

In addition, Partners Albania has developed a system that will assist all local government units in their work in terms of engagement and public consultation.

In this context, PA conducted 13 regional trainings where municipal representatives working in groups, evaluated and measured concrete public consultation processes in their respective municipalities such as annual budgeting, local plans and special investment projects, using the indicators of this system designed through the STAR2 project. PA also conducted three regional trainings with the public information and consultation coordinators from the 61 municipalities on this system.

The project Support to Territorial and Administrative Reform -STAR2 is implemented by the Albanian Government in partnership with UNDP in Tirana, with the support and cooperation of the European Union, the governments of Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and USAID.

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Public participation and consultation at local government level in Albania

The White Dove Award Partners Albania organized for the first time the White Dove Award ceremony. This award is an appreciation to people who showed civic courage and suppressed personal interests in the name of public benefit.

In the presence of a large audience of guests representatives of civil society, local institutions and the donor community, three civil society organizations received this award.

The White Dove Award for civic bravery shown in initiatives for accountable and transparent local governance was granted to Albanian Institute of Science with motivation: “For the unique contribution on increasing public transaction transparency through the creation of online platform opencorporates. al”

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

The White Dove Award for whistleblowing of corruption cases at national and local level was granted to Birn Albania with motivation: “For civic bravery, professionalism and objectivity shown in investigative report of wide public impact topics such as: coast real estate affairs, ARMO issue etj.”

The White Dove Award for civic bravery shown in initiatives for accountable and transparent local governance was granted to EcoAlbania with motivation: “For the persistency and given contribution in protecting national water resources and the Vjosa River Initiative, raising the issue at the international level”.

Capacity Building Program

During this period, Partners Albania continued the capacity building program for NPOs, on using mechanisms to increase participation in decision-making processes, networking and building partnerships among civil society and local government. Two 2-day training sessions on “Participatory Governance” were organized with NPOs of Kavaja and Elbasan, following with two networking sessions with representatives of Tirana NPOs.

Promoting Good Practices As part of its work to promoting good practices and mechanisms for increasing participation in decision-making processes, and building partnerships between civil society and local government, Partners Albania prepared three videos that reflect these processes in the municipalities of Elbasan, Vora and Shkodra.

Beneficiaries of the capacity-building program were also representatives of local government. Three 1-day training sessions on “Participatory Governance” were held in Shkodra, Berat and Gjirokastra with the participation of 45 representatives from these municipalities.

In response to the specific needs of participating organizations, PA experts conducted seven individual coaching sessions and an online training.

These activities were organized in framework of the project “Partnerships of non-governmental organizations and self- governments: together for more effective participation”, implemented by Partners Albania in cooperation with Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS) and financially supported by Slovak Aid – Official Development Assistance of the Slovak Republic.

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www.levizalbania.al LevizAlbania is a project that aims to strengthen the local democracy in Albania through the engagement of civil society actors and individuals as the champions of democracy. It is implemented by a consortium of three organizations: Open Society Foundation for Albania, Partners Albania and Co-Plan, and financially supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Albania.

Strengthening civil society organizations for effective inclusiveness and participation in policy and decision making In support of LevizAlbania, in order to address the needs of beneficiaries and interested applicants, PA is offering a wide assistance program online and onsite, supporting networking in territories larger than those in which CSOs operate, and their expertise to successfully advocate in the local decision-making.

Strategic Communication for NPOs, Strategic Planning and Participatory Governance were online trainings conducted in this period, attended by 22 participants.

To support LA grantees, based on the needs and challenges encountered in implementing their projects, Partners Albania provided networking sessions for 17 beneficiaries of LA Fifth call of ideas.

Local Democracy Camps is an initiative of Partners Albania in framework of LevizAlbania project, aiming to increase skills and activism of young people, to contribute to the improvement of local democracy in their home cities.

Following the previous camps organized in 2018, PA organized two other camps in Elbasan and Tirana, with the participation of 35 youngsters who were introduced to successful local and international experiences and practices.

During the camp held in Elbasan, Sanda Rakocevic, Executive Director of “Association for Democratic Prosperity - ZID� from Montenegro, through a virtual meeting shared her experience and concrete initiatives implemented by this organization, aimed at increasing community participation in decision-making processes, and involvement in monitoring the decentralization process in Montenegro.

#LocalDemocracyWeek2019 LevizAlbania organized for the third year #LocalDemocracyWeek, a calendar of multi-purpose activities for presenting project achievements through the supported initiatives implemented by civil society organizations in the framework of strengthening local democracy, improving local government, increasing citizen activism.

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Partners Albania organized regional trainings in Cooperative Advocacy and Participatory Governance, with the participation of 38 representatives of CSOs, individuals and beneficiaries of the LevizAlbania grant scheme.

Join and update information of your organization in

The Albanian Crowd www.thealbaniancrowd.org The Albanian Crowd is an interactive Online platform of Albanian NPOs and social enterprises. The platform provides comprehensive information on the location, scope of work, areas of activity, beneficiaries, services the organizations and social enterprises offer and projects they are working on.

The Albanian Crowd provides the opportunity for its members to share the most recent updates about projects and activities, identify potential project partners and recruit volunteers and supporters.

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It also serves the institutions and individuals from the public sector, business community, media, international organizations and donors who will find in it dynamic information, partners and services needed.

The platforms supports already 150 member organizations from across the country, operating in different fields. Since it was launched, the platform counts thousands of visitors and million hits from over 150 countries from all continents.

All interested groups can join the platform by completing the Online registration form at the following link: http://www.thealbaniancrowd.org/aplikimi-en/ We invite the organizations already members to send us continuous updates to publish in the platform.

Partners Albania is an independent Albanian NPO established in 2001, working to support civil society and facilitate inter-sector cooperation in order to strengthen democratic institutions and advance economic development.

Partners Albania is a member of Partners Network, a partnership of 22 independent, local organizations in Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East working for peaceful and democratic change.

We have moved to the new office in: Rruga e Elbasanit, PARK GATE, 10th floor, App. 71 / 73, PO BOX 2418/1, 1010, Tirana, Albania Tel: +355 4 2254881 | Mob: 0697889600 partners@partnersalbania.org | http://www.partnersalbania.org Follow us on: Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, Twitter Visit The Albanian Crowd, the online platform of NPOs and social enterprises in Albania

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