UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator in Albania, Mr. Jan Wahlberg, will be leaving Albania on 16 June and entering into retirement. Mr. Wahlberg, family in tow, has served with UNDP for 29 years and in nine duty stations: Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana, New York, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Barbados, Estonia, and finally Albania. In a gesture of respect and appreciation from the people of Gramsh, home of the lauded Weapons in Exchange for Development Pilot Programme, Mr. Wahlberg received the title Citizen of Honor in a ceremony in Gramsh on 25 May.

On 18 May the UNDP Gender in Development Programme organised a roundtable entitled "Women Can Do It!" to discuss the situation of women in government and decision-making structures in Albania, and in particular how to increase the number of women candidates presented by the various parties for the upcoming local elections. Political parties unanimously agreed that there is more room for women in politics, and have assured that they will undertake to increase the number of women within their ranks.

Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Mr. Abid Hussain, accompanied by OCHCHR Human Rights Officer Martine Anstett, is currently concluding a one-week investigative mission to Albania, at the invitation of the Albanian government, to assess the situation regarding freedom of opinion and expression.

The UNESCO project "Intercultural Education and Education for Human Rights", funded by the Italian government, was approved by the Albanian Parliament on 25 May. The project will concentrate on implementing the dispositions of the convention "On Privileges and Immunities of Specialized Institutions."

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UNICEF sponsored Youth Parliament elections in the prefectures of Gjirokastra and Shkodra on 23 May for young people aged 14 though 18. The Youth Parliament initiative was launched in these two prefectures as a pilot project, with the aim of bringing democratic culture to the youth of Albania.

The Presidents of Turkey and Bulgaria, respectively, paid official visits to Albania this month to discuss cooperation within the framework of the Stability Pact.

Albanian President Rexhep Meidani visited Kosovo for the first time, meeting with UN Administrator Bernard Kouchner, members of the Administrative Council, and other political and social representatives.

The Ministry of Education reported that at least 112 children in the country are forced to remain at home, unable to attend school, because their families are involved in blood feuds.

The Government has received a bid or nearly US$86 million from a Greek-Norwegian consortium for the purchase of the majority stake in the mobile telephone company AMC. Prime Minister Ilir Meta said, "the result of the bids to privatise AMC represents one of the biggest achievements of the Albanian government."

Albania, together with Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Macedonia, signed a statement at a meeting on NATO’s role in European Security in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Friday 19 May, calling on NATO to invite them to join by 2002.

Tirana’s town hall has approved a decision to rename a portion of the main boulevard after the only king of modern Albanian history, King Zog, who ruled from 1924 to 1939.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the net foreign debt of Albania in 1999 increased by US$125.6 million, and at year end stood at US$529.8 million.

On Saturday, 20 May, at the EBRD annual meeting held in Riga, Latvia, Henry Russell, country director for the EBRD in Albania declared that "This year marked the beginning of end of the pyramid trauma." Ermelinda Meksi, Minister of Economic Cooperation and Trade and also Stability Pact Coordinator for Albania, addressed widespread concerns about crime and corruption saying that the Government is working hard to restore order in the country and push forward with privatisation. Annual foreign direct investment last year was reported to be US$41 million, bringing total FDI since 1992 to US$427 million.

The Prime Ministers of Albania and Montenegro met on Tuesday 23 May in the northern Albanian city of Shkodra to inaugurate an optic fibre telephone link and continue talks on strengthening relations.

The OSCE in Albania, sponsoring and mediating the drafting of the newly adopted Electoral Law, has chided the political parties for not respecting "the rules of the game." In preparation for local elections coming up in September or October 2000, OSCE has expanded its presence to Shkodra, Kukes, Durres, Vlora, Gjirokastra, Korca and Peshkopia. UNDP is supporting the election process with an Electoral Assistance Programme, aimed at computerising the voters’ lists and updating them through a house by house enumeration process.