Government prepares strategies for gender and the Roma minority

TIRANA, June 18 – The government has approved the National Strategy on Gender Equality and ending violence against women (2011-2015), which is considered of crucial importance.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha asked all the ministries and government agencies to be fully committed to the full implementation of gender equality which, he said, first and foremost implies equality in accessing and controlling benefit sources in society, legal equality and equality in political decision making.
In 2005 the difference in average wages among men and women in Albania was 34 percent, while the recent reforms to increase wages in education, health and other professions which are mainly dominated by women narrowed the gap.
Berisha also said that the government would cooperate with the renowned Nobel Prize winner for micro crediting, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who is appointed Executive Director of the Agency of Social Micro credit Business in Albania.
The government also has approved a change in the “Amendment to the Government of Albania adhering to Decade of Roma Inclusion,” the UN’s initiative to bring the Roma population out of a century-long discrimination.
Berisha said that the government has decided to help the Roma and Egyptian community with greater contributions, especially toward their housing, education and employment.
The government is negotiating with international finance institutions and lately with the Council of Europe Development Bank to finance projects to improve the life of the Roma and Egyptian community in Albania.