Women urged to be part of elections

TIRANA, April 11 – The OSCE together with its Albanian implementing partner, the Gender Alliance for Development Centre, have organized two training sessions in seven regions of Albania with around 200 women candidates, including representatives of political parties and independent candidates, on advocacy, public speaking, and communication with media, as well as developing a fair, effective and competitive election campaign with the women’s participation.
“Bridging the current gender equality gap in all governance structures remains a challenge. All national and international partners alike have a substantive responsibility to address it,” OSCE Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth said, adding that the 8 May elections would show to what extent women would vote, and to what extent women would be able to vote individually and secretly.
At a meeting President Bamir Topi said: “Nowadays, gender prejudice and discriminatory administrative and legal practices impeding gender equality no longer exist. Unfortunately, there is still a deep gap between the political parties’ promises on increasing women’s participation in the decision making and the official candidates’ lists.”
The three-year project Enhancing Women’s Role in Governance implemented by the OSCE was funded by the governments of Sweden and the Netherlands.