The draft Strategy and Action Plan on improving opportunities for education and employment of Albanian prisoners was presented for consultation with stakeholders during an online workshop on 31 March 2021.
The workshop was attended by a wide representation including representatives of the Albanian Ministry of Justice, Law Committee of the Albanian Parliament, Directorate General of Prison Administration, Ministry of Education, Vocational Training Services, National Employment Services, Municipality of Tirana, Fason Production Association, Ministry of Finance and civil society organisations active in providing vocational training and employment for Albanian prisoners.
As a result, there is clear overview on the collaboration perspectives and commitment of all involved actors, at the same time a sufficient input has been received to further fine-tune and customise it to the Albanian context. The Strategy and Action Plan take into account good practices from other European countries developed in a comparative study, as well as responses gathered by a survey conducted in nine Albanian prisons, and the suggestions offered during the first working group meeting organised by the Action.
“Efforts to address education and employment in prisons have failed for the past 25 years. I am pleased to witness that the legislative changes presented with the penitentiary legal package for the first time are taken further through a well elaborated and structural approach”- said Ms Vasilika Hysi, Deputy Chair of the Albanian Parliament.
An agreement between the Ministry of Justice and the Fason Production Association, as well as a structured collaboration with civil society organisations were considered as instrumental to achieving success. The application of the strategy, once adopted by the authorities, will be further facilitated by the elaboration of pertinent sub-legal acts.
These activities take place within the scope of the Action “Enhancing the protection of human rights of prisoners in Albania”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the second phase of the “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey” and implemented by the Council of Europe.