Tirana – Migration is central to Albania’s social and economic development. In 2018, the Government of Albania (GoA) developed, with the support of IOM, the National Strategy on Migration 2019-2022 (NSM) and its Action Plan (AP), approved with the Decision of the Council of Ministers Nr. 400, date 19.6.2019.

The establishment of an effective coordination and monitoring mechanism is crucial in expediting the implementation of the policy and reporting. The NSM foresees the creation of a coordination and monitoring system, covering both the attainment of particular objectives of the Strategy and the overall improvement of coordination.

In this context the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – the UN Migration Agency, Mission in Albania, GIZ in Albania and the Ministry of Interior presented the activities and progress of the project “Improving Coordination on Migration Governance in Albania”.

An online workshop gathered project stakeholders, including representatives of institutions in charge of migration governance, UN agencies and international organizations, civil society and migrant organizations, academia, and private sector to be informed on the project objectives, activities timeline and progress, expected results and stakeholders’ role in this process.

Opening the event, Ms. Silva Banushi, General Director of Regulatory and Compliance for Public Order and Safety in the Ministry of Interior, stressed that "The National Strategy for Migration and its monitoring and evaluation mechanism have the approach and interlink the perspective of Albania's EU integration processes and global migration. The strategic vision is oriented towards comprehensive answers to the challenges and opportunities of migration in Albania!”

Ms. Olinga Rafat, National Coordinator of the “Migration and Diaspora Programme” from GIZ Albania pointed to “Through the Global Program Migration & Diaspora, GIZ aims to harness the positive impact of regular migration and diaspora engagement to drive forward social and economic development in Albania. If managed well, migration has an incredible potential for spurring development.”

Ms. Alma Jani, Head of IOM Albania, noted “Every action that IOM implements contributes not only to a better migration governance in the country, but also to broader frameworks and commitments that the government has undertaken to achieve.”

This workshop served as the venue of presentation and discussion of the migration governance coordination instruments and the semi-annual progress report of the National Strategy on Migration implementation, followed by the  presentation of the “Migration and Diaspora programme” implemented by  GIZ Albania, to conclude with the  presentation of the new project objectives, activities timeline and expected results implemented by IOM, focusing on the project assistance in support of the Technical Secretariat on Migration, strengthening of the coordination mechanism on migration and the mid term review of the NSM 2019-2022 and Action Plan.   

The workshop contributes to the successful realization of the project “Improving Coordination on Migration Governance in Albania” implemented jointly by GIZ Albania and IOM Albania, through the financial support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

For more information, please contact Bardha Qokaj on +355 68607 7519 or visit https://albania.iom.int/