Dec 17, 2019

Employment and Vet Policy Reform in Albania: The National Agency for Employment and Skills

The newly approved legislative framework on Employment and Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Albania aims to increase opportunities in the labour force and strengthen the labour market functioning, by setting clear objectives of the public employment services, active and passive programmes, and VET, in a coordinated and demand-driven manner, responding to the national priorities set in the National Employment and Skills Strategy (NESS) 2019-2022. The law foresees that the National Employment Service (NES) is transformed and reorganized into the National Agency for Employment and Skills (NAES), responsible for policy implementation in the areas of employment and skills development. For more information:

Dec 17, 2019

Employment and VET Policy Reform in Albania-A new reality in the labour market integration of People with Disabilities in Albania

The newly adopted Law on Employment Promotion introduces a quota-levy system, to be utilized as one possible source of financing the Employment Social Fund. This fund is established to support the labour market integration of people with disabilities. Currently the MFE is preparing the necessary secondary legislation, i.e. the composition, criteria and roles of the Administration Board of the Employment Social Fund and the procedures the employer will follow to contribute to this Fund. SD4E is bringing international expertise and is discussing with NAES possible support packages which will ensure smooth integration of PwD in the labour market. For more information please see document attached.

Nov 25, 2019

Land Degradation Neutrality Target for Albania and Soil Erosion Measurement Norms and Standards

The Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) concept works to better communicate multiple cross-sectoral benefits of LDN related measures, to ensure that key decision makers understand the ground-breaking opportunities presented by setting an LDN target. Why does LDN matter to the country? By answering this question, countries will be able to showcase and effectively communicate the multiple benefits that LDN offers to address national development priorities such as food security, poverty reduction and climate action. LDN is a “lens” that helps focus on the multiple services that land provides, creating coherence among sustainable development policies. Setting a LDN target provides clear direction for action. While the LDN target-setting process is consistent with international guidelines (e.g. SDGs and the Rio Conventions), to be successful it must be aligned with national development priorities and build on national sustainable development processes. LDN falls under the thematic scope of the UNCCD, developing cross-cutting actions that encompass the interests of the other Rio Conventions is vital for its success. Actions to achieve LDN can also help reach the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans established under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and become a core element of the Nationally Determined Contributions in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Through this report we developed the setting of LDN baseline. Considering the data from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, land degradation trends are assessed, mainly in the identified hotspots of Ulza and Bovilla. This report identifies the drivers of land degradation to better understand the dynamics of land degradation at the (sub-) national level, determining the drivers that are directly linked to local land-use systems and underlying drivers that can be local, national or global and reflect demographic, economic and socio-political circumstances that impact local land-use systems indirectly. The norms and standards for soil erosion measurement as per the EU requirements are developed.