The Albanian parliament listens to the requirements of acce in a public hearing session.

Tirana, 13 November 2013 - The Albanian Coalition  for Child Education ( ACCE) , attended the public hearing session held at the offices of the Parliament ,at  the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on Labor , Social Affairs and Health .

This hearing session was held in relation to the UN Children Rights Committee recommendations for Albania. Present at the hearing session were deputies, government representatives, civil society representatives, independent institutions etc.

The Speaker of the Parliament, H.E. Ilir Meta declared that this was the first public hearing session of the legislation which started with the participation of the civil society with focus on the children’s rights.

The hearing session was presided by the Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs; Mr. Fatmir Xhafaj who described the meeting as a new approach of the Parliament and Parliamentary Committees in collaboration with stakeholders and civil society to make the appropriate steps about this sensitive issue of protecting children's rights. The Chairwoman of the Committee on Social Affairs, Mrs. Albana Vokshi considered this presence as evidence of the importance given to the issue of protecting children and their rights.

During the open debate, the representative of the Albania Coalition for Child Education (ACCE), Mrs. Linda Pino, presented several recommendations, among which: the provision of free textbooks for children in need , providing monthly scholarships for marginalized children , increase of the Albanian annual budget for education in order to provide free education for every child who attends the public primary education and continuous monitoring of all public schools by trained and competent evaluators.

In this session were submitted other problems and difficulties encountered in the protection of children's rights. Emphasis was put on the importance of cooperation between public institutions and civil society stakeholders to seriously address these issues in accordance with the implementation of recommendations raised from the UN Convention on Rights of the Child.