TIRANA, Feb. 28 – Albania’s Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati, said Tuesday that countering violent extremism is one of the country’s greatest challenges.
Addressing the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Bushati pledged that the country will boost its contribution to the Security Council to tackle issues of radicalism, extremism and human rights.
“Albania has undertaken several measures to prevent and counter extremism and radicalism. We have included ways and tactics how to prevent the phenomenon in the curriculum of our education system,” Bushati said.
Albania’s initiative to introduce religious history classes in schools came to life in 2016 and sparked great concern among experts who worried that the country’s secular values were being undermined. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Edi Rama argued that the plan will inoculate students against extremism.
The pilot project started in September and included five secondary schools and five high schools. Albania, as a member state of the UN Human Rights Council has called for more international efforts to address conflicts in Syria and Iraq as well has committed to tackle the refugee crisis and defend human rights according to UN principles.
