Country | Albania |
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Optional protocol | on the involvement of children in armed conflict, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, on a Communication Procedure |
Violence | The Committee is particularly concerned that half of children are routinely subjected to violence in the home or witness violence against their mothers. In 2008, 18 children reportedly committed suicide as a result of the violence to which they were subjected in the home. |
Safety | |
Corporal punishment | Corporal Punishment is prohibited. |
Overview of the child rights situation | Albania needs to invest more in education and health to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The treatment of girls and Roma children must also be improved. |
Discrimination | |
Racism, children belonging to a minority and indigenous children | While welcoming the information provided by the State party during the dialogue that the Roma families forcibly removed from their settlement near Tirana train station in February 2011 were finally provided with housing solutions, the Committee remains concerned about the precarious housing conditions in which some of these families still remain.<br /> The Committee urges Albania to ensure that all Roma children are provided with a health card and have effective and unimpeded access to health services. |
Situation of children with disabilities | The Committee recommends that the State party address as a matter of priority the situation of extreme marginalization of children with disabilities in the State party. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake long-term awareness-raising programmes in order to change and combat negative societal attitudes prevailing against children with disabilities. The Committee also recommends to set up mechanisms for early detection and multidisciplinary intervention services for children with disabilities and their families and take all the necessary measures to increase their access to preschool education. Albania should further ensure that all children with disabilities, including children with mental, hearing and speech disabilities receive proper financial support and care from the State and that support to families is no longer restricted to one child per family. The Committee further recommends that Albania develop a comprehensive national strategy on disability, promoting the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all children with disabilities, with special focus on time-bound measures to ensure that children with disabilities access mainstream education. |
Situation of asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children | The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that children are properly identified and registered during pre-screening procedures at border points and no longer detained and that best interests determination procedures are initiated to define how to best address the child’s immediate and long-term needs. This should include the appointment of legal custodians and the provision of comprehensive information to minors on their return prospects. The Committee encourages the State party to ensure that the Border Police do not detain unaccompanied minors and, in this regard, seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It also urges the State party to ensure that asylum-seeking and refugee children have access to education. |
Education | |
Free kindergarten | No |
Free primary and secondary school | No |
Digital possibilities | The Committee is concerned that inappropriate movies are routinely broadcasted during hours when children can be expected to watch television, whereas quality educative programmes are rare. |
Health | |
physical health | The Committee urges the State party to prioritize the allocation of financial and human resources to the health sector with a special emphasis on primary health care in order to ensure equal access to quality health services by all children. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to address child malnutrition, focusing primarily on the most disadvantaged categories of children and on nutrition education and access to quality food. The Committee further recommends to Albania to ensure that access to basic health care is not conditional upon the mother’s membership in the social security schemes and take all necessary measures to counter the pervasive practice of health workers and doctors asking for informal payments. In addition, Albania should strengthen the link between maternal and child health services, including paediatric institutions, and the collaboration of these services and the early childhood care institutions. |
Relation to other countries | |
mental health | The Committee is concerned at the absence of specialized health services for adolescents, including mental health services, and the fact that existing counselling services are not used by adolescents. |
Impacts of climate change | The Committee recommends to take all the necessary measures to address air pollution and contamination of drinking water. |
Business sector | The Committee urges the State party to strengthen its efforts to eradicate child labour, particularly in its worst forms, by addressing the root causes of economic exploitation through poverty eradication and education. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to strengthen the labour inspectorate and provide labour inspectors with all the necessary support, including child labour expertise, with a view to enabling them to monitor effectively, at the State and local levels, the implementation of labour law standards. |
Situation of juvenile justice | The Committee urges the State party to establish specialized juvenile courts with adequate human, technical and financial resources throughout the country, introduce specialized judges for children in all the regions and ensure that such specialized judges receive appropriate education and training. The Committee further urges the State Party to ensure that children are no longer detained in police stations together with adults and without access to a lawyer and that all cases of mistreatment are properly investigated and punished. The Committee further recommends to organize regular training for law enforcement personnel, including police and prison administration staff, in order to ensure that they all have a thorough understanding of provisions of the Convention and are aware that violations are not acceptable and will be investigated, and that perpetrators are liable to prosecution. |
Specific observations | The Committee is deeply concerned about the persistence of “blood feuds” resulting from the application of customary law known as “Kanun” and, in particular, the killing of children and the confinement of a large number of children for fear of being killed, especially in the northern areas of the State party. In that regard, the Committee expresses deep concern that in May 2012, a 14-year-old girl was killed in a “blood feud”. |
Additional Background | Concluding observations on the second to fourth periodic report released on 7 December 2012. |
Last Updated (date) | 23rd of February, 2022 |