Discussion by Luiza Hoxhaj in Conference on:
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-All rights
for all"
December 10, 1998
Dear participants!
First of all, I would like to greet the organizers of the
Conference, the Women and Family Committee, the Project "Promoting the
Economic and Social Status of Women in Albania" and the "International
Training Center in Turin of the International Labor Organization" who
chose Vlora as the city in which this conference is being organized. Of course,
the Prefecture and the Municipality of Vlora deserve congratulations for their
cooperation.
I find the selection you made appropriate, in which you obviously
took into consideration the democratic traditions of these three, in its
distant and recent history.
But Vlora currently, like the whole of Albania, has faced and is
facing the problems of the prolonged transition as well as those of the
post-crisis, which unfortunately also create problems in the field of human
rights.
This transition period, in addition to the expansion of some human rights or
the further completion of our legislation in the field of human rights, these
steps, which have favored social progress, has also had as their phenomenon the
systematic violation of the rights of to man, such as: the right to assemble,
the right to be treated with credit, various favors, the basic right to vote,
physical violence against journalists or politicians, free movement, etc. These
cases, when they have reached their peak, have forced citizens to use the last
weapon of civil disobedience, against a regime that does not protect human
rights, on the contrary, it violates them.
I said this not to politicize the problem, but to serve this
moment as a moment of awareness and awareness for the human rights that we
enjoy as individuals and for the efforts that we must make to protect these
rights, but also also for the state's obligations to ensure and guarantee these
rights, which the law gives us, with the sole objective of not falling into a
similar situation. Here I have in mind the first paragraph of the introduction
to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: "..that the
recognition of the dignity that belongs to all members of the human family as
well as the recognition of their equal and inalienable rights constitutes the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world".
All international documents on human rights, as well as
international documents and conventions, place us in front of the obligation
for everyone to fight and work to build a state where the law reigns and where
we are all equal before the law.
The truth is that, in general, our legislation in this regard is
complete. In order to realize its implementation in the conditions of the
development of civil society, non-governmental associations were born.
In the field of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a
point of reference.
Taking into consideration the fact that the development of this
Conference coincides with the seminar developed for the training of Volonian
women in the field of implementation of the rights of women and girls in
Albania, I would focus on the field of the situation of Volonian women and the
level of organization of her in the NGO.
The development of civil society and the democratic transition are closely
related to the success of women's participation in dealing with its problems.
As was seen from the presentations that were made by them during the seminar,
what is most important, as was also seen during their activity, we can say
that: In Vlora, the women's movement is in full bloom.
Vlonia women have well understood the principle of participation,
the principle of being active. They have all the necessary intellectual
potential to make their contribution in all spheres of life, in the new
conditions of transition from a closed society to an open society, from
totalitarianism to democracy.
But it is true that they have not always had the opportunity to
make this contribution in state bodies, such as in the high or local
administration, in decision-making or executive bodies.
This difference between their intellectual potential and the
impossibility to give their contribution in some cases, due to various
obstacles or undervaluation, they have compensated with the principle of
volunteerism, by organizing themselves in non-governmental organizations. Today
in Vlora we have 8 professional women's NGOs, operating in various fields, as
well as 5 women's political associations.
The Family Planning Center also operates in Vlora. All these
organizations are active in the development of the life of our city. Here we
must not forget the contribution and participation of women in other mixed
associations (without gender orientation) such as SH.K.L. Democratic, the
associations that have the protection of human rights or even professional
ones.
The first flower is the Women's Business Promotion Association
established in 1994, which is already an experienced association. During the
years 1997-1998, this was followed by 8 other NGOs, which were integrated with
dignity.
The fruit of this commitment of women from Vlonia is the fact that
today in our city we have a number of women and girls leaders, this number,
although modest, shows a trend in the positive direction for their evaluation.
- We have a woman representative in the legislature; in the local
councils we have: two councilors in the Municipal Council and two councilors in
the District Council; in the management of financial institutions, we have two
women managers (Mrs. Soq and Insig); we have a director in medicine; at the
University of Vlora we have two women deans; in the only SME Development Agency,
the director is a woman.
But if we make these calculations in relation to men, the numbers
are still modest. This means we still have a long way to go. In the future, our
objectives must be more ambitious.
Another point that I would like to emphasize is the woman's
confrontation with phenomena such as divorce or prostitution.
Often economic problems, unemployment, this is more pronounced for
women, stripping her in most cases of the elements of ownership, have caused
her to lose her economic independence and therefore part of her authority to
have influential role in the family in the best case, but also in the
dissolution of the family in the worst case. This inferior position of hers has
meant that in most cases she is not the applicant for this divorce even when
her life becomes unbearable. This is clearly shown by the fact that the number
of divorces requested by women is decreasing.
Often, the inability to cope with life, as well as the low
intellectual level, or individual predisposition, or the inability to face
criminal groups, leads some women and girls to the path of prostitution. In the
case of Vlora, the mentality of its population in relation to the woman in the
family: the protective role in relation to the mother, daughter or sister,
adding to this the economic level, reduces the premises for the Vlora woman or
girl to fall into the network of prostitution. But that doesn't mean we
shouldn't be concerned about it. Our struggle and efforts must be of such a
level that we do not even allow the possibility of Vlora being a transit point
for the export of prostitution for girls and women from the province or other
countries. Vlonian mothers and daughters, Vlonian families must be strongly
invested so that their sons, brothers and husbands do not fall asleep and
become collaborators of these networks.
We all together can manage to fight, protect and realize our
rights in particular and human rights in general.
Thank you for your attention!
