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Partners-Albania
Local Name: Qëndra
për Ndryshim dhe Manaxhim Konflikti (QNMK)
Director: Juliana Hoxha
# of Staff: 9
Center since: 2001
Contact Information:
Posta Qëndrore, Tirana, P.O. Box 2418/1
Tel: (355-4) 254881 or
254883
Fax: (355-4) 273351
Email: partners@partnersalbania.org
Web: http://www.partnersalbania.org
Partners-Albania Center for Change & Conflict Management
was founded in 2001 with a mission to build a culture of
change and conflict management in Albania, and has become
a national leader in the development of Albania’s third
sector.
The Center’s non-governmental organization (NGO) training
and technical assistance program builds core skills in the
civil society sector to better cooperate with government,
business, and other sectors. Partners-Albania regularly
conducts comprehensive assessments of local NGO capacities
and needs in areas including advocacy, anti-corruption and
organizational sustainability. Partners Albania 2005 Directory
of Albanian NGOs (contact partners@partnersalbania.org
for information on how to order a copy) provides a comprehensive
view of the non-profit sector in Albania and facilitates
communication within the NGO sector and between the NGO
sector and the government institutions, donors, business
and media.
Partners-Albania also provides small grants to build NGO
capacity and to support cooperative initiatives among organizations
and sectors. The Center works with local government officials
to help them cope with the growing complexity of their roles
and responsibilities, including greater transparency and
increasing citizen participation. Other programs promote
greater involvement of women and youth in decision-making
processes.
Democracy and Governance in Albania Program
Since October 2004, Partners Albania has been a key part of
the USAID-funded Democracy and Governance in Albania (DGA)
Program. The program is led by the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI),
in partnership with Partners for Democratic Change, and the
International Research and Exchange Board (IREX). The
goals of the DGA program are to promote better governance,
activate citizen participation in political processes, and
combat corruption.
In the framework of this program, Partners Albania strengthens
Albanian civil society organizations through a diverse program
of training, technical assistance, and small grants. All
programs are carefully designed to enable NGOs to participate
effectively in good governance, advocacy and anti-corruption
initiatives.
Partners-Albania’s DGA Training Program supports
NGOs’ efforts to create more transparent and accountable
governance by providing training and technical assistance
on:
Networking and Coalition Building,
Advocacy and Lobbying Skills,
Elements of Accountable and Transparent Government,
Conflict Management, Negotiation, and Effective Communication,
Civil Society Anticorruption Initiatives,
Participatory Governance and Participation Techniques.
(Click
here to view the DGA Training Outcome Report covering the
first year of the program.)
Partners-Albania administers the competitive DGA Small Grant
Fund, which is designed to support free and fair elections,
contribute to the fight against corruption, and promote
greater transparency and accountability in local and national
government through financial support for Albanian Non-Profit
Organizations.
In 2005, Partners Albania/ DGA supported a variety of
projects related to the parliamentary elections on July
3. The projects focused on:
Monitoring
the electoral process according to international standards;
Monitoring voter participation compared with previous
national elections;
Increasing voter participation among youth, Roma, and
emigrants;
Improving access to polling stations for people with disabilities
and securing voting rights for disabled citizens;
Monitoring of actual government expenditures in comparison
with the legislatively approved budget.
(Click here to see success stories from some of the 2005
Small Grant projects).
Additional Information:
“2001-2004
Activity Report” - An overview of the Center’s accomplishments
in its first three years of operation in strengthening Albanian
civil society, local governments and citizen participation.
“Success
Stories of Program Beneficiaries: 2001-2004” - A selection
of case studies from participants in Partners-Albania’s
programs.
In May 2004, Klaudia Gates of Partners, conducted an assessment
of the programs of Partners-Albania and their effectiveness
in beneficiary communities. For an excerpt of the assessment,
please click
here.
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