EU Delegation and the UN Country Team in Albania reconfirm their commitment to joint work to attain Sustainable Development Goals in Albania

The UN Resident Coordinator in Albania, Fiona McCluney with the UN Country Team in the country hosted a meeting with the EU Delegation in Albania led by Ambassador Luigi Soreca. 

The meeting aimed to take stock and celebrate the results achieved so far thanks to a solid EU-UN collaboration. It also gave an opportunity to explore priority areas for 2022-2023, further strengthen synergies and common efforts, as well as strategize on constructive UN engagement in the EU’s IPA III and the Economic Reform Program.

In the opening remarks, both the UN Resident Coordinator and the EU Ambassador highlighted the pillars of a strong EU-UN cooperation. In Albania, this is closely linked to the countries’ core objective of EU accession, the overarching priority and key development driver for the country. This priority is strongly aligned with the 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in working towards Accession many targets and indicators of the SDGs are also reached. 

The EU-UN cooperation in Albania is a mutually reinforcing partnership marked for its high standards of transparency and accountability. It has brought remarkable and very concrete results in the country, including the strong joint response to the 2019 earthquake (EU4Schools and EU4Cuture projects implemented by UNDP and UNOPS respectively) and to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as solid governance reform interventions at local level through various EU-funded projects.

Over the years, the UN efforts in Albania have focused on advancing sectorial reforms, policy dialogue, systems strengthening, coordination and advocacy. During the meeting, several EU funded projects and activities were showcased as good practices that place Albania in the right path towards sustainable development and EU accession.

There were many examples of key results highlighted. This included greater participation of civil society organizations in key reform and development areas; stronger capacities of local governments; application of EU standards to Build Back Better and Build Back Together; advancements on cultural heritage preservation; empowerment of local communities; substantive progress on gender mainstreaming, and women and children’s rights.  Efforts to promote economic empowerment of women, the new Law on Asylum that brings Albania closer to international standards and the EU legislation and efforts towards countering money laundering and enhancing border security and control in Albania.

Both the UN Country Team and the EU Delegation in Albania reconfirmed their commitment to solid partnership for sustainable development in line with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022-26 and the upcoming EU’s IPA 2023, in cooperation with the Government of Albania, development partners and other relevant actors in the country.

At the end of the meeting the UN Country Team Albania had prepared a surprise farewell ceremony for the EU Ambassador, who ends his tenure in Albania to join the team of High Representative Borel. UN Resident Coordinator Fiona McCluney presented Ambassador Luigi Soreca with a commemorative plaque to express gratitude for his collaboration and strong dedication to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Albania.