Open Society Foundation for Albania

	4 April 2007 Memorandum of the farmers for exports complying European standards 29 March 2007 Monitoring of the parliamentary process of drafts law debating 28 March 2007 The civil society is in favor of the creation of a state committee against blood feud 16 March 2007 Monitoring of the migration strategy 26 February 2007 Signature of the Memorandum of Understanding 18-20 February 2007 Parallel counting of votes 13 February 2007 The Civil Society demands the relaxation of conflictuality of the election campaign 3 February 2007 Local elections 2007 online by the MJAFT Movement 30 January 2007 Seminar on “Improving public transportation in the region of Tirana” 23 Janauary 2007 Memorandum of civil society to protect its own constitutional rights 18 January 2007 Call of the civil society for a civilized election campaign 22 December 2007 Winners announced for the “Public-private partnership” contest 19 December 2006 Workshop "Albania's Interim Agreement with the EU and its effects on the Albanian Business" 1 December 2006 Debate of the civil society about the new draft law concerning the State Police 21 November 2006 Presenting the findings of the survey “Albania and the EU – Perceptions and Realities” 18 November 2006 The Conference “Albania and Greece – Mutual perceptions” 6-10 November 2006 Seminar on the challenges of European Integration 3 November 2006 Debate about book policies in the countries of Western Balkans 3 November 2006 AUBG closes recruitment ceremony with fourth-grade students of high schools in Tirana 1 November 2006 Organization that builds school wins case against Albanian government 14 October 2006 Standards in pre-university education 10 October 2006 Presentation of the monitoring report ivote.com - January-July 2006 16 September 2006 Historical turns and the return of memory

18 January 2007

In a situation of a difficult election environment in the country, representatives of civil society came together on 18 January to discuss the pre-election conditions and possibilities of improving the already laden climate. Participating in the meeting were the Albanian Helsinki Committee, the Albanian Group of Human Rights, the Center for Parliamentary Studies, the Foundation of Open Society for Albania (OSFA), the Association for Democratic Culture, the Center for the protection of Children’s Rights in Albania, the Coalition for Participation of Women, Youth and Minorities in Politics, the Center for Legal and Civic Initiatives, the Forum of Free Thought, the Albanian Institute for the Development of Election Systems, etc.

As had happened in former elections in Albania, the civil society took note of a striking lack of ethics during the campaign of the various candidates as demonstrated in offenses, slanders, violation of privacy, hate speech, etc. In this meeting, the civil society spoke with one voice and decided to publish an Open Call stressing the need for an ethical and civilized election campaign. Among other things, the civil society calls upon the candidates “to focus on options and solutions that promise to carry the country forward while building on actual achievements and successes”. The Call also underlined the need for more transparency, dignified competition, ethical communication and decent speech as important elements of democracy.