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Information about Gjirokastra region

  1. Facts from the history of Gjirokastër Region
  2. Address of the Council of Gjirokastër Region
  3. A summary about the situation of children rights in the Region
  4. Local strategy developed about child protection
  5. Address of the Observatory for Children's Rights, Gjirokastër
  6. Role and responsibilities of the Observatory for Children's Rights, Gjirokastër
  7. Address of the Children Rights Unit (CRU)
  8. Role and responsibilities of CRU of Gjirokastër
  9. Role and responsibilities of CPU Gjirokastër

1. Facts from the history of Gjirokastër Region

Gjirokastra district has an area of ??2.884 km ² with a registered population of 156.751 located in 46093 families and a population density of 54.35 people per km2. Compared to 2009, the population grew of 0.4% (600 inhabitants), leading to the change of density by 0.2 inhabitants per km2. Gjirokastra region has a favorable geographical position. Gjirokastra is situated in the center of South East Albania and crossed by two major valleys in southern Albania, the Upper Valley of Vjosa and the valley of the River Drin. In these two valleys is where the majority of the population of Gjirokastra district is concentrated and at the same time they constitute the main parts of economic and industrial development of the region. Gjirokastra region administrative center is the city of Gjirokastra which dates back to medieval times since XIII century. It has typical oriental architecture building mixed with native elements. For the uniqueness of the medieval architecture and its unique values??, Gjirokastra is included in the World Heritage protected by UNESCO since 2005, and has been involved in a number of international tourist advertising.

Gjirokastra region includes the districts of:

  1. 1. Gjirokastër with an altitude of 400 m above sea level and consisting of two municipalities and 11 communes (96 villages) with a population of 84.430.
  2. 2. Tepelenë, consisting of two municipalities and 8 communes (77 villages) with a population of 38,708 inhabitants;
  3. 3. Përmet, consisting of two municipalities and 7 communes (98 villages) with a population of 33.613 inhabitants.

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2. Address of the Council of Gjirokastër Region

Rruga “Ismail Kadare”, Gjirokastër 6001

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3. A summary about the situation of children rights in the Region

According to the General Directorate of Civil Registration in Tirana (Interior Ministry), the total population in the age group 0-15 years old for 2010 was 31.234 inhabitants, or 20% of the total population of Gjirokastër Region;

While the proportion of children, aged 0-15 years old, according to the area of residence (urban / rural) for each district is: Gjirokastër 7793 (51.45%) children living in urban areas compared to 7,353 (48.55%) children living in rural areas; Tepelenë 3.131 (34.61%) children living in urban areas compared to 5, 915 (65.39%) children living in rural areas; Përmeti 3,078 (43.71%) children living in urban areas compared to 3964 (56.29%) children living in rural areas.
Poverty and Inequality Maps for Gjirokastra region show that it is among the areas that have the lowest levels of poverty and inequality in Albania in 2009 and 2010. This is observed if we refer to the indicators of the number of families benefiting from social assistance schemes. According to data obtained from the Regional Office of Social Services Gjirokastër, in 2010, the total number of families with children aged 0-15 years old who benefit from welfare schemes is 1378 which is only 2.99% of the total number of families in this region. The total number of 1678 children aged 6-15 years old is 1.07% of the total regional population.

According to the analysis in regional level, there is:
- In the district of Gjirokastra, 158 families with a total of 177 children aged 6-15 years old, of whom 150 live in urban areas and 27 in rural areas;
- In the Tepelena district, 674 families with a total of 877 children aged 6-15 years old of whom 371 live in urban areas and 506 children living in rural areas,
- In the Përmet district there are 626 families with a total of 624 children of whom 167 live in urban areas and 457 in rural areas.

All these children are enrolled in the 9-year compulsory education. There are no data on preschool attendance in the age group 0-6 years old by the Regional Office of Social Services in Gjirokastër. However, the quality of teaching and the significant improvement of infrastructure of kindergartens have had a positive impact on improving the percentage of children enrolled in kindergartens. For the academic year 2008-2009 in the district of Gjirokastra, 4-preparatory classes opened aiming children aged 5-6 who had not attended kindergarten. In the 2010-2011 academic year, in the region of Gjirokastra there are 10 gardens where 220 children attend. In the region of Gjirokastra, about 79% of children enrolled in the first class have attended 1-year kindergarten.

At the regional level, 13% of children over the official duty age are enrolled in the first class. This small percentage is due to the lack of information on the law on compulsory education from parents and non-attendance of the garden from this part of children for health reasons and distance of school buildings.

According to the document approved by the Ministry of Education and Science under the title "Norms Standards and projection criteria", the number of students in schools in areas with 2000 to 10,000 inhabitants should vary between 250 and 500 pupils; But, due to movements of population, migration and socio-economic changes there is a tendency for the concentration of population in large urban areas.
Currently in the region of Gjirokastra we have the following overview of the distribution of schools and number of students in the 9-year education and secondary education.

In the 2010-2011 academic year 9090 students attend the 9-year education, of which:

In the 2010-2011 academic year 3258 students attend the secondary education, of which:

From official records of the DAR of Gjirokastër and accordin to the implementation of national action, supported by the Action Plan for the reduction to  zero in school dropouts, it turns out that this phenomena is not a problem compared with other areas of Albania.

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4. Local strategy developed about child protection

There is no information regarding the National Strategy for this region

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5. Address of the Observatory for Children's Rights, Gjirokastër:

Rruga “Ismail Kadare”, Godina  ish Gjykatës, përballë Këshillit të Qarkut, Nr. 3; Gjirokastër 6001

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6. Role and responsibilities of the Observatory for Children's Rights, Gjirokastër:

Observatory for Children Rights in the region of Gjirokastra District (2010), is a monitoring civil society entity which works in close partnership with all public and non-public local actors, and day by day it is becoming a factor at the local level for the implementation of the rights children in the Gjirokastra region.

The focus of the work of the Observatory, Gjirokastra is:

 

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7. Address of the Children Rights Unit (CRU)

Rruga "Ismail Kadare",
Godina e Këshillit të Qarkut,
Kati 2; Gjirokastër 6001

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8. Role and responsibilities of CRU of Gjirokastër

Child Protection Unit at the Municipality Gjirokastër [1] (2007), is not established yet in the other local units, municipalities or communes of Gjirokastër region (efforts are being made in Përmet municipality to appoint a civil servant for the gender and children rights issues). This unit is included in the Gjirokastra Municipality structure and aims to promote the rights of children and to protect children from abuse, injury, neglect, exploitation in order to ensure that a child is able to develop its full potential and integration.

The duties of this Unit are:

[1] [1]The data are drawn from CPU, Gjirokaster Municipality, 2012

9. Role and responsibilities of CPU Gjirokastër:

Children Rights Unit of the Regional Council of Gjirokastra[2] (2010) is still in the process of building and consolidating its activities and it has prepared the draft of Regional Strategy and Plan of Action for Children in Gjirokastra region 2010-2014. Due to the tense political situation and the institutional process has been prolonged. The main tasks of this unit are:

[2] [2]The data are drawn from the Child Rights Unit, Regional Council Gjirokastra, 2012

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Prepared by: Eglantina Gjini,
Expert, Observatory for Children's Rights, Gjirokastër