Open Society Foundation for Albania

	20 march 2008 Aid to individuals displaced due to Gërdec tragedy 13 march 2008 Lobbying on the law on the right to information under way 15 february 2008 Public presentation of the recommending document on the electoral reform 26 january 2008 Lobbing and advocacy on encouragement of social inclusion November 2007 Training courses on participatory governance 5 November 2007 Third report on monitoring the Assembly activity presented 2 November 2007 American University in Bulgaria evening with high school students 1 November 2007 Monitoring of commitments deriving from the SAA 18 October 2007 Survey on European Integration issues 15-19 October 2007 Team training and supplement production on European Integration 15 October 2007 International Conference on public urban spaces in Albania 12 October 2007 National conference on strategic privatizations 5 October 2007 New draft-law against discrimination proposed 15 September 2007 Dialogue required on government-proposed amendment to law on non-profit organizations 14 September 2007 Activities on the draft-law on electoral reform 3 August 2007 Students and public life 20 July 2007 Debating the law regarding publishing and the copyright 11 July 2007 Debating some amendments of the law on the right for information 10 July 2007 Presentation of the project for a sharing budget 29 June 2007 Increasing the management capacity of the municipality and involvement of citizens in the decision-taking process 25 June 2007 Amendment proposal for the law 8503 regarding the right for information 21 June 2007 The employment of students graduated abroad in the public administration 30 May 2007 Dialog civil society - government aiming at the reduction of informality 11 May 2007 Second report on the activity of Albanian Parliament is published 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

25-26 January 2008

Stemming from some sharp problems of the Albanian society, the Open Society Foundation for Albania, OSFA, in co-operation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education undertook a project on "Lobbing and Advocacy for Drafting Policies and Strategies that Avoid Exclusion and Encourage Social Inclusion”.

The activities of the project supported by OSFA and the East-West programme, extended over a year, is aimed at raising the awareness of the Albanian government, state and local government institutions, civil society, employees, media and the trade unions for improving the situation of the vulnerable population (mainly Roma population) and for issuing more recommendations to ensure a more efficient work in this field.

The first phase of this project was the organization of a two-say seminar in Tirana, where experts from Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Croatia, Poland and Check Republic spoke about the problems and experiences they have undergone in the field of social inclusion. Participants in this seminar recommended changes in the Albanian legislation to assist people in need, to monitor strategies via a civil society network as well as to establish a national agency.

Other phases in implementation of the project shall be exchange of best experiences on social inclusion in Slovenia and Ireland, initiation of a awareness campaign on the fight against poverty, establishment of a national consensus on joint actions of the responsible stakeholders as well as drafting of a political document. The direct beneficiaries of the project are the vulnerable communities and individuals, representatives from the ministries and local government, political parties, media, businesses and civil society.