Meeting of Legal Professionals in Diaspora
Meeting of Legal Professionals in Diaspora, held on 7 June 2021, is an annual meeting, which aims to engage legal professionals in Diaspora and support their engagement for the development of Albania. The meeting was organized by the National Diaspora Agency, with the support of the State Minister for Diaspora and the Ministry of Justice.
The meeting contributed to establish bridges and strengthening cooperation between Albanian institutions and legal professionals in the Diaspora. The diaspora lawyer’s involvement is critical in some important processes, such as strengthening the Albanian legal framework, development of Albanian justice system and the approximation of Albania with the EU.
Mr. Pandeli Majko, the State Minister for Diaspora called on lawyers abroad to be involved in justice institutions in Albania, such as the School of Magistrates, because as he highlighted, all the human capital that is being invested for the future of Albanians should be invested for the future of Albania.
The discussion took place in three panels: "general Overview", "Lawyers in the Diaspora and their role in the Justice Protection" and "Networking of Professionals in the Diaspora".
Mr. Xhon Skenderi, IOM Albania Consultant, participated and contributed to the discussion panel as part of the Diaspora Programme ‘Engage the Albanian Diaspora to the Social and Economic Development of Albania’. He is Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Tirana and a Legal Expert on European International Private Law and Human Rights. As part of Diaspora Programme, Mr. Skenderi is among the six experts who are supporting the institutions that are responsible for the implementation of the National Strategy for Diaspora and its Related Action Plan 2021-2025. These institutions are the: Ministry of Finance and Economy; Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth; Ministry of Culture; Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs; Bank of Albania and Ministry of Justice where Mr Skenderi is assigned.
He focused his presentation on Diasporas` Access to Social Protection and Reflections on EU and Albania’s perspective by giving a deep analysis of the related legal aspects, ideas, and recommendations. He stressed out on his presentation that “the change of the migration provisions during the last years, in the spirit of the EU legislation, aims at building a new platform of migration policies, for more partnership in global migration management. The Albanian Government should continue to increase the participation in further bilateral agreements with other countries where its diaspora its located, based on the norms of Regulation no. 883/2004 of the Council of Europe "On the coordination of social protection systems" and other EU legislation.’
The presentation delivered today by Mr Skenderi is part of the work done by him in the framework of the support that he is providing to the Ministry of Justice in the implementation of the National Strategy for Diaspora and its Related Action Plan.
Throughout all the meeting, the representatives of Diaspora expressed their willingness to engage and contribute to the needs that Albania with legal expertise, proposing and suggesting many ideas how the engagement of professionals could be encouraged and supported better by the Albanian Government.
The Diaspora Programme is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Office in Albania, the UN Migration Agency, with funding from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in coordination with the Albanian State Minister for Diaspora, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance and Economy through and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).
