The role of the human rights institutions as a fundamental element of the rule of law in Albania was the focus of  the Annual Conference of the People’s Advocate Institution, which took place in Tirana with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint action “Promotion of diversity and equality in Albania”.

The Conference welcomed the Speaker of the Assembly of Albania, Lindita Nikolla, the Ambassador of the European Union Delegation in Albania, Christiane Hohmann, the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana, Olsi Dekovi, the United Nations Resident Co-ordinator for Albania, Fiona McCluney, other representatives of the Assembly, state and independent institutions, representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations, civil society and the media.

In her opening remarks the Ombudsperson Erinda Ballanca, emphasised the need for strong human rights institutions to have their independence guaranteed from any type of influence, as this provides them with the adequate weight and effectiveness that democratic institutions require.

During the last years the EU and the Council of Europe joint action on “Promoting Diversity and Equality in Albania” is supporting key local actors in the field of anti-discrimination to address important challenges concerning minority rights, promotion and protection of LGBTI rights and combating hate speech in line with the standards and recommendations set by the Council of Europe.

The conference was divided into two discussion sessions, where the first session panellists discussed the topic: “The development and strengthening of effective, pluralistic and independent national institutions of human rights”, while the topic in the second session was: “Freedom of the media and hate speech in light of the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec (2022)16 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on combating hate speech”

This activity was organised in the framework of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” which supports tailored reform processes agreed with the authorities, in line with relevant Council of Europe monitoring and advisory bodies’ recommendations.