On 2 March 2022, CNVP Albania organized a national event on the occasion of Women’s International Day. The event was organized in Pogradec, Albania with the participation of the main LED project partners representing MAP companies, local authorities, and MAP producers from Tirana, Shkoder, Elbasan, Diber, Berat, and Korca. 

This event was greeted by Ermelinda Xhaja and Rezarta Katuci project officers at the Embassy of Sweden in Tirana.

The theme for Women’s International Day for 2022 is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” and the IWD 2022 campaign theme is #BreaktheBias.

The event was a combination of presentations and open discussions and reflections.  It started with a brief presentation on the history of Women’s International Day as a way of recognizing the efforts and sacrifices of all the women who fought for women’s rights followed by the presentation of the main legal framework with laws and conventions in support of women in Albania.

After the presentations, the event was organized in the form of open discussions, reflections, and sharing experiences among women and men. The women working for the state structures, businesses, and producers shared their experiences and clearly, they had to overcome endless barriers as well as break lots of bias which is not an easy process.

 Setting good examples, getting out of the comfort zones, sharing experiences with others is seen as good way of making progress and breaking the bias.

Mainstreaming gender is at the heart of the Sida-funded LED project which has as a main focus increasing the incomes of households in rural Albania by promoting improvements in the efficiency and inclusiveness of the MAPs (and other NTFPs) market system. Women are highly involved in the cultivation and wild harvesting of MAPs but they fail to gain a reliable income for their activities.

Gender activities are integrated into all the project activities so that both men and women, boys and girls are involved, have access and control, and benefit equally from their resources.