The UNDP/UNOPS Gender in Development project sponsored three conferences in December aimed at helping the Government to prepare for the Beijing + 5 Conference to be held in July 2000. The conferences were facilitated by the Committee for Women and Family, and the Parliamentary Subcommission for Youth and Women, and dealt with: Women in Decision Making; Women and the Economy; and Trafficking and Prostitution. Among the issues discussed was the Stability Pact Gender Task Force, supported by UNDP and OSCE, which will establish guidelines for increasing women’s participation in elected government and a legal framework for inclusion and training of women in decision making structures. Over sixty NGOs, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the UNDP Resident Representative attended.

The UNDP/UNCTAD project supporting the Debt Management Department of the Ministry of Finance, ended on 31 December with both the IMF and the Government expressing satisfaction with the functioning of the newly created Foreign Debt Management Unit within the Ministry. The Government has requested that UNDP support a follow-on project of training and assistance to integrate DMFAS software into the internal system of debt management, bringing it to international standards.

The Ministry of Finance announced expected GDP growth for 2000 to be eight percent, and a rise in inflation from zero (due to the influx of humanitarian aid during the Kosovo crisis) to three percent.

President Rexhep Meidani received scalding criticism from the opposition Democratic Party for a week-long trip to China during which he met with Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin. China has reportedly promised grants to Albania worth about 10 million yuan (approx. USD 1.2 million) despite a divergence of positions on the Kosovo issue.

An Albanian delegation, led by the chairman of the ruling socialist party and former Prime Minister Fatos Nano, visited the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro in mid-December. The delegation met with Montenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Perovic and discussed an Economic and Trade cooperation Agreement as well as joint projects within the framework of the Stability Pact. The border between Albania and Montenegro remains sealed by Yugoslav troops, halting once-vigorous trade and seriously damaging the economy of northwestern Albania.

Albanians have rung in the New Millennium peacefully, without the rampant gunfire that marred New Year’s Eve celebrations in recent years.