Statement. Permanent Mission of the Republic of Albania to the United Nations. Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. Agenda item 29 a) b):

Transcription

1 MISIONI I PËRHERSHËM I REPUBLIKËS SË SHQIPËRISË PRANË OKB-SË NJU JORK PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS NEW YORK Statement Permanent Mission of the Republic of Albania to the United Nations Third Committee of the UN General Assembly Agenda item 29 a) b): Advancement of Women 13 October 2015 Check against delivery

2 Thank you Since this is the first time my delegation takes the floor during this session, I would like to congratulate you and the other members of the Bureau on your election and to assure you of our full support in your challenging work. Under your competent leadership, we are confident this will be a successful Third Committee session. We would like to begin by thanking the Secretary-General for his reports presented to the Committee under agenda item 29, as well as to thank the panelists for their presentations under this agenda item. My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered yesterday by the European Union. Celebrating the 15 th anniversary of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, we welcome the open debate held by the Security Council on the review of 1325, to assess progress at the global, regional and national levels in implementing the resolution. It is very important that we use this critical mass to accelerate implementation of the women, peace and security agenda, and to address new challenges, such as the emergence of violent extremism. My Government is convinced that peace and security cannot be achieved without joint efforts by both women and men, given the inextricable links between gender equality and international peace and security. Albania is not a post-conflict country. It has been striving however to achieve higher standards in facing new challenges and emerging threats, towards our path in consolidating and promoting respect for human rights.

3 In implementing Resolution 1325 the Government of Albania identified and focused its efforts on several key objectives, which take account of the need to enhance women s leadership, increase the participation of women in political and public decision-making; increase participation of women in the police and armed forces; and enhance relevant programmes for professional training on gender issues and violence against women. Recent legal acts, such as Protection from Discrimination and Military discipline in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania" provide for appropriate legal and disciplinary measures in cases of sexual harassment, sexual violence and genderbased violence committed by military personnel in discharging their duties. The 2013 Directive from the Ministry of Defense provided for gender equality and gender mainstreaming as annual priorities, achieving later that year the objective of a 17.7% representation of women in the Armed Forces. Our government has placed gender equality at the center of its agenda, considering that the economic and social development of the country cannot be achieved without concrete results, especially in promoting gender issues and making them part of all the country's development policies. In this context, the government structures in collaboration with the civil society and international organizations, have worked intensively on: - Harmonization of the national legislation in a constant manner with international standards, and - Drafting and implementation of the national strategy of gender equality and domestic violence.

4 One of the tangible achievements of recent years is the increased representation of women in political and public decision-making. If we refer to facts and statistics, women's representation in the current legislature of the Albanian Parliament has 29 women or 21% of the total. In the Government cabinet there are 7 women ministers out of 19 in total and 9 deputy ministers women of 23 in total. Besides achievements, there are also new challenges in the implementation of our objectives. 1. Economic empowerment of women through increasing and improving access to credit, as well as promotion and expansion of employment programs for women and girls, narrowing the gap in unemployment and increasing the participation of women in the labor market. Women and girls with disabilities are a priority group in this regard. 2. Prevention and reduction of violence against women and domestic violence, elimination of gender discrimination in education, health, media, strengthening the legal and institutional mechanisms, as well as improvement of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. 3. Increased participation of women in political bodies and decision-making, central and local representation of women in managerial and professional positions in all public administration bodies, including the representation of women in police and armed forces. We have taken note of suggestions for a legally binding instrument in the UN framework; Mindful of protection gaps, this delegation is however of the opinion

5 that current gaps are not of a normative nature and a new norm-setting process is not required. The Council of Europe's Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is a very powerful tool. We are therefore proud to be amongst the first countries to have signed and ratified the Istanbul Convention, from which derive a set of actions and measures. Albania has extended its work on gender equality and gender-based violence at several levels, ranging from improved policies and legislation in compliance with two international conventions; increasing the representation of women at the policy level; strengthening enforcement capacity at central and local level; improving data collection and monitoring mechanisms; and expanding the scope of action and social services to all civil society actors. In the meantime, concrete steps have been taken to increase public awareness aimed at changing gender stereotypes through various awareness campaigns; changing attitudes to gender issues through strengthening the capacity of public administration and the responsible actors in the field of gender equality and domestic violence; and reducing gender-based violence and domestic violence. Increased political participation, economic empowerment and partnership with boys and men to change stereotypes and cultural norms will assist government priorities in efforts to advance gender equality agenda. We remain committed to the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action. We fully support the Declaration and will use opportunities and processes in the areas of sustainable development, humanitarian action and climate change, to strongly support and achieve the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. I thank you.