I am happy to be part of this historic moment of our city and in particular of Tirana City Council and young people in my town. Today young people, in close cooperation and consultation with Tirana City Council, for the first time in our modern history, are establishing the Youth Advisory Board.
This board, but also many others like it, which are being set up across Albania, will constitute the new face of youth participation and our local democracy, where decisions dealing with young people are consulted with them and where decision-making takes into account the interests and demands of young people, as citizens and as voters.
When we talk about youth, always comes to my mind a sentence written by Anne Frank, perhaps in the most difficult moments of her life: “Howwonderful is that no one need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world”. We are now starting to improve the world of young people in Tirana! A World that is good for Youth it’s also a good World for everyone!
Myself, not simply as the Director of CRCA Albania, which has supported the establishment of Youth Leadership from its bigging and today with the establishment of this Board, but as a person who comes from the new youth movement of post ‘90s in Albania, I feel very proud to see that young people have begun to succeed in their participation in local decision-making.
“Tirana Youth Leadership” is a youth network, consisting of 34 members from political youth forums and youth organizations in Tirana, established in 2012 by CRCA Albania in cooperation with youth organizations in Tirana. I take this opportunity to thank our friends at the Olof Palme International Center that believed in us and to the young people.
Today, “Tirana Youth Leadership” consists of 30 youth civil society organizations and 4 youth political forums. They come together under this network to consult and to undertake joint actions and initiatives in the interest of all youth, regardless of their political affiliation, economic and social status, sexual orientation, gender identity, skills or groups, in which they belong. Leadership’s purpose is to increase the youth participationg and representation at local level in all stages of decision-making and policy development for young people. The establishment of the Youth Advisory Board at Tirana Municipal Council, by youth and for youth, it is particularly important as it strengthens the participation, information and consultation of Tirana City Council’s policies and its decisions with young people.
According to the Albanian legislation, at the local government, citizens’ committees should be function at every municipal unit. However, from our day-to-day experience we know that young people in Tirana have had great difficulties to participate in decision-making processes. As a result, local policies have not been consulted with young people, either developed or implemented in consultation with them.
Through the establishment of Youth Advisory Board at Tirana City Council we aim to achieve:
Democratisation of institutions and local governance;
Establish models of good governance;
Consult policies for/by the youth in Tirana;
Participatory budgeting where youth voice can be heard and taken into consideration ;
Involvement of young people directly in the planning and implementation of actions and joint initiatives with elected local officials;
Increased accountability of local institutions in exercising their functions;
Create a vision for youth development in Tirana.
Finally let me thank all those who have made this achievement possible:
Mr. Aldrin Dalipi, Chairman of Tirana Municipal Council, for his dedication, and establishment of all democratic spaces for young people of the capital city to participate and exercise their civil and political rights;
All young people and organizations, member of Tirana Youth Leadershipthat have dedicated their time and precious efforts in increasing youth participation in local and central level in Albania;
Olof Palme International Centerand many other partner organisations and embassies present in Albania, that have believed and continue to believe that young people are the ones who will bring a great change in this country;
Klaudio Pulaha and Blerina Metaj from the Coalition for Promotion of Women and Youth in Politics & CRCA Albania, for their dedication to youth rights in Albania and for creating a platform of cooperation between young people and women, as among the two most under-represented groups in political processes and decision-making in Albania.
I wish the Youth Advisory Board and Tirana City Council many successes in this mission that is so inspiring as well as it can empower all our citizens!
From: Altin Hazizaj,
General Director
CRCA Albania