UN supported government along four tracks: (i) country response to Covid-19, (ii) continuity of essential health services, including equal access to services, (iii) strengthening of the health system, focusing on resilience, and (iv) advocacy and partnerships on the rights to health and reduced inequalities. More than 100,000 children were reached through communication activities in 313 schools; 60,000 health staff and volunteers developed capacities on infection prevention and control, surveillance, outbreak investigation, emergency; 7,000 new-born benefitted from improved quality of neonatal care in Tirana maternity wards, including 40 Covid-19-positive new-born hospitalised in 2021; 10,000 children and adults were reached with personal and family hygiene supplies to ensure key recommended hygiene practices were implemented at the family and community level in the context of Covid-19; 270 teachers obtained knowledge on healthy nutrition and prevention of obesity and being overweight using accredited training modules, and 16,200 children benefitted from school-based interventions and were reached with communication messages; 1,425 families were reached with home visiting services; 9,000 women are reached via HPV testing credited to implementation of the Cervical Cancer Screening Programme at the national level, while 1,560 patients were treated with radiotherapy (with Linear Accelerators and the Therapax Orthovoltage machine), of which there were 326 cases of breast cancer, and 2,159 patients were diagnosed or treated using nuclear medicine. By end-2021, 40 percent of people younger than 18 years of age had received two doses of a vaccine against Covid-19.

The joint UN – Government of Albania efforts in 2021 contributed to progress in achieving SDG targets: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.7, 3.8, 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3.d, 8.2, 11.6, 16.5, 17.18

Significant contributions were made by the UN to mainstream principles and practices of inclusive education through the introduction of new instructions on quality of education, inclusiveness, innovation in education technology for learning, new curricula, new training, protocols and standards for learning and for teaching. The whole reform of pre-school education has been supported and designed with significant UN support, in a consorted effort with government. The capacity development of local and central government capacities was achieved through a considerable number of teachers at all levels of education, who were trained to improve their classroom practices. By the end of 2021, at least 1,200 teachers became skilled in DRR strategies and other inclusive methodologies; 350,000 children were accessing online learning (in school or via other distant learning opportunities), 200,000 virtual classes had taken place, 20,127 video lessons developed and made available online, including 1,000 videos prepared for children with hearing and visual difficulties, while new interactive and high-quality pre-school content has been added to the platform, and 100,000 children who do not have access to devices and the Internet were reached through the dedicated programme ‘RTSH Shkolla’; 16,000 teachers had their knowledge and skills developed in the use of technology as a means to improve child learning outcomes; 448 teachers, 56 school directors, 150 psychologists, social workers and security staff developed capacities and 18,000 students and 12,000 parents were informed on CSE in 2021; 380 high-school teachers (85% females) were trained in-person on the effective use of the optional module Education for Prevention and Resolution of Disputes in the Workplace; and 34 local high-school teachers are currently delivering this optional subject to 2,040 general high-school students who selected it in the academic year 2021–2022.

The joint UN – Government of Albania efforts in 2021 contributed to progress in achieving SDG targets: 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7

The rich legal and policy framework established in the area of social inclusion and social protection was complemented with efforts to sustain implementation at the local level and clarify regulatory and financing frameworks. The UN contributed towards provision of direct technical support at the local level to fulfil obligations linked to the provision and management of social care policy and services at the local level. This has included support that benefits all municipalities in Albania (e.g., methodologies linked to the planning, mapping and monitoring of local services, plus tools, guidelines and training materials to support detailed policy implementation), as well as specific support provided in selected municipalities to pilot test different mechanisms at the local and regional level, so as to learn practical lessons prior to facilitating the wider roll-out and scaling up of the range of initiatives to be undertaken by the partners in the coming years.

At the community and local level, vulnerable groups were empowered over their rights and entitlements to social services and participated meaningfully in advocacy forums and public consultation mechanisms. Municipal institutional capacities were strengthened in implementing social inclusion policies at the local level and providing inclusive services, while CSOs were enabled in holding municipal authorities accountable for social care services delivery.
A few key achievements for the year include the following: almost all of Albania’s municipalities have in place social care plans, with more than half approved, with costing and clear targets to reach at least 60 percent of all children in poverty or in a vulnerable situation in the municipality, and enabled to populate and use MIS for social care services; five municipalities developed five-year local social housing plans allowing them to assess and address the social housing needs of the most vulnerable in their territory; Tirana Municipality was assisted with the development of a Plan of Action for PwD and for R&E that will be an integral part of the new Local Social Care Plan 2021–2025, which is also in development; 17 municipalities were enabled to implement the social fund through grant funds allocated for innovative community-based social care services, and six municipalities to apply GRB within local budgets; ten grassroot CSOs were capacitated to demand accountability for GE and related allocated resources through six watchdog reports on integrated social care services, expenditure monitoring and accountability; and more than 10,000 R&E women and men now have improved access to basic social protection services. For the first time, the SDG indicator 1.3.1 is measured in Albania.

The joint UN – Government of Albania efforts in 2021 contributed to progress in achieving SDG targets: 1.3, 3.7, 4.1, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 10.2, 11.10, 16.6

Bringing about systemic change and strengthening the systemic response to child protection risks and harm to boys and girls is at the heart of the cornerstone legislation for child protection, four laws and more than 20 by-laws were developed and adopted with a strong contribution of UN agencies in recent years, and at least 17 instruments facilitate their implementation and at least six national mechanisms are collecting evidence and addressing violence against children. The Child Helpline ALO116 was modernised to provide diversified reporting options (phone line, via the Internet and mobile app.) countrywide, has become legally recognised as a key child protection service and is now financially supported from the state budget. Online professional psychological and mental health counselling has become more assessable to children and youth, through the www.nukjevetem.al platform, which keeps on expanding. The emergency service for children at high risk of violence, abuse, exploitation or neglect has been replicated in other municipalities and been used as the standard service model for the national standards of emergency services. The curriculum for on-the-job training of child protection workers has been updated with the new legislation and is now an integrated part of the curricula of ASPA.

The UN significantly contributed to developing the capacities of child protection workers, social welfare workers, police officers, digital forensics professionals, NGOs and human rights institutions in addressing various aspects of child protection, including online protection. Private companies have been targeted with the aim of strengthening their capacities in providing safe digital environments to children. All major free public Wi-Fi spots in Tirana are equipped with the content filtering mechanism ‘Friendly Wi-Fi’, which managed to block more than one million attempts to access internationally blacklisted or adult sites. To date, 87 percent of Child Protection Units (CPUs) perform case management of children at risk and in need of protection.

The first ever National De-Institutionalisation Action Plan 2020–2022 was drafted, and its implementation facilitated, allowing the three important processes to be tested in the municipalities of Korca and Vlora, including (i) a model for a Child and Family Support Hub, (ii) model guidelines for child-family reunification, and (iii) a model for an alternative professional foster care service. Furthermore, through the Social Fund, government allocated a financial package of around USD 120,000 to each of the two pilot municipalities of Korca and Vlora, recognising their efforts and helping to advance the development of alternative childcare services.

The joint UN – Government of Albania efforts in 2021 contributed to progress in achieving SDG targets: 1.3, 1.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 8.7, 10.2, 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.9, 16.10, 16.a, 17.6, 17.9, 17.17, 17.18

A solid legislation on GBV, developed and adopted with a strong contribution of UN agencies in previous years, and improved law implementation capacities of local actors and law enforcement agencies, tailored to the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, alleviated the situation of women and girls, victims of GB–DV in Albania, including due to limited access to specialised support services from Covid-19 isolation. An enhanced and improved national response to GB–DV and harassment in the workplace (national and local levels) was in place by the end of 2021. Key achievements include, to name a few, a reduction in the percentage of women who have experienced physical violence in their lives, to 18 percent from 23.7 percent in 2017, all municipalities have in place a functional Coordinated Referral Mechanism, from 27 (44%) in 2017, more than 4,000 cases of GBV addressed through CRMs, from 312 in 2017, and survivors of sexual violence receiving integrated support services from the multi-sectoral socio-medical staff at the LILIUM Centre. Meanwhile, ILO Convention 190, on ‘Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the Workplace’ was endorsed by the government and submitted for ratification to Parliament in early 2022. Civil society organisations now have a stronger voice in influencing policies, supporting survivors and challenging negative social norms on GBV to ensure that progress is being made, monitored and reported on from all sides. Government, for the first time, prioritised addressing child marriage and early union in its budgeted national policy framework. Both the National Gender Equality Strategy and the National Agenda for Child Rights approved in 2021 contain objectives and measures to combat this harmful practice.

The joint UN – Government of Albania efforts in 2021 contributed to progress in achieving SDG targets: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.6, 8.7, 16.1, 16.2