Situation of children in Albania

Doc. 8657

1 March 2000

Situation of children in Albania

Recommendation 1398 (1999)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 699^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (24 February 2000)

The Committee of Ministers welcomes the adoption by the Parliamentary Assembly of Recommendation 1398 (1999) on the situation of children in Albania. It wishes to assure the Assembly that it shares its concerns about the protection of children and notes that following the adoption by the Parliamentary Assembly of Recommendation 1121 (1990) on the rights of children, the Committee of Ministers adopted and opened for signature, in January 1996, the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights, which aims to promote the exercise of children's material rights, as recognised in particular in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Committee of Ministers brought Recommendation 1398 (1999) to the attention of its member states and requested the European Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS) to undertake a study, through the Forum for Children, on what action might be taken on this Recommendation in the context of the Council of Europe's activities.

Following this study, the Committee of Ministers, through the intermediary of the Secretariat, expressed its readiness to assist the Albanian authorities in establishing their national strategy for children, including the setting up of adequate co-ordination structures.

Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers, in co-operation with UNICEF, set up an emergency programme in refugee camps in Albania to help children suffering from distress associated with the war and their situation as refugees. The programme addresses the needs of these children by providing training courses for professionals working in direct contact with them. It also supports existing social institutions by providing consultancy and expertise and, together with other relevant international organisations and local authorities, intends to develop a national and local Social Action Plan that takes into consideration the needs of the children and their families. This programme started in July 1999 and will continue up to the end of October 2000.

The Committee of Ministers has also been made aware of the situation of street children and draws attention in this regard to the work carried out in connection with the Co-ordinated Research Programme in the Social Field which led to the publication of a very complete study on the question. In the context of the Programme for Children adopted in 1998, the Committee of Ministers also launched a special study on vagrant children - a concept similar in part to that of street children - the findings of which are expected in the course of 2000.

The consultations with the Albanian authorities have also resulted in the inclusion in the Organisation's Programme of Activities for 2000 of a set of activities, planned notably in connection with the Activities for the Development and Consolidation of Democratic Stability (ADACS) for Albania, and the Council of Europe's proposals for activities in the framework of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, and in part implemented in conjunction with other international organisations concerned.

The Committee of Ministers wishes to draw the Assembly's attention to the fact that these activities although limited by the budgetary means which could be made available, give effect to a large extent to the proposals formulated by the Assembly in its Recommendation. It sets out below the action which the Council of Europe has already taken on these questions, as well as those planned.

Paragraph 6: As part of the 1999 programme of legal co-operation (ADACS and Joint Programme with the European Commission), a seminar on the judicial system with regard to minors was organised and the plan of action for the reform of the prison system implemented. Implementation will be continued in 2000, together with an expert evaluation on the judicial system with regard to minors (drafting of a law creating sections for minors in the courts, a project to set up a model section for prisons in the Tirana Court).

The training of Albanian staff and local authorities responsible for providing services to families and children is the subject of a programme of activities proposed in the framework of ADACS programmes in the social field.

Paragraph 7: Reference should be made in this context to the activities undertaken under the OCTOPUS II project to promote the fight against organised crime in which Albania is taking an active part. Furthermore, in the framework of its contribution to the Stability Pact, the Council of Europe took the initiative of the PACO programme to combat corruption and organised crime in South Eastern Europe.

At the request of the Albanian authorities, an appraisal began within the Programme for Children on preparing a programme to combat the harmful effects on children of family vendettas.

With regard to the promotion of a sense of civic responsibility, the Council of Europe is associated with other partners in the school and community based initiative “Democratic Change in Albania” aiming to enhance the role of schools as civic and social centres in the local communities. Based on this initiative, preparations are underway, in the framework of the CDCC project on “Education for Democratic Citizenship”, to set up an Albanian citizenship site starting with a network of six secondary schools in the Tirana district. The aims of the site would be the development of sustainable partnerships between teachers, students, parents, local authorities and the community; the development of a participative learning process and of participation of students in the decision-making process in the schools.

Furthermore, in September 1999, a seminar on textbook writing was held in Tirana which covered matters such as decisions on the aims and objectives of a textbook and key principles and good practice in textbook writing.

Paragraph 8: In the framework of the ADACS programmes in the social field, the Council of Europe is co-operating with the European Commission and a number of donor countries on preparations for a census of population and households in Albania, which is planned for 2001.

Paragraphs 10 and 11: It should be stressed that the Albanian authorities are in the process of drawing up a new Family Code in the context of legal co-operation programmes, with the assistance of Council of Europe experts. When this draft code is adopted, it will establish the legal framework of protection for children.

Paragraph 12: The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly about the information campaign for Kosovar refugees, led by the Directorate General of Human Rights - Equality between Women and Men Section, aimed at the prevention of trafficking in human beings, which took place in Albania (May to August 1999). The purpose of this campaign was to prevent the activities of organised criminal networks operating in Albania, who mainly victimise adolescents and very young women: the latter being brought to western Europe where they suffer sexual exploitation and treatment often verging on slavery. During the crisis in Kosovo, the information campaign was aimed, above all, at the Kosovar refugees, who found themselves in a particularly vulnerable situation. This operation was organised in conjunction with the United Nations (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights). Follow-up action was organised in Albania during the second half of 1999 and will be continued in 2000. In particular, mention should be made of a seminar held in Tirana in December 1999, organised jointly by the Council of Europe, the Albanian Committee for Women and the Family, and UNDP, which made recommendations aimed at reinforcing the measures taken to fight against these phenomena, providing for the rehabilitation of victims and implementing awareness-raising activities.

It also draws the Assembly's attention to its Recommendation No. R (91) 11 concerning sexual exploitation, pornography and prostitution of, and trafficking in, children and young adults, which is concerned about measures to be taken in the member states in the areas of education, information, prevention, assistance and specific criminal procedures, but also about conditions for reintegrating young people involved in prostitution.

The European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) has started consideration of Recommendation No. R (91) 11 and its possible revision, in view of the national and international dimensions of the phenomenon of the commercial exploitation of children and young adults.

Paragraph 14: The Council of Europe is examining, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the possibilities for implementing a health care reform programme aimed at incorporating the human rights dimension.