Governance, Rule of Law, and Human Rights
Access to Justice
Albania continued to advance justice reform in 2025, strengthening legal frameworks, institutional capacities, and access to justice for vulnerable and marginalized groups,
while addressing remaining gaps in inclusiveness, capacity and EU alignment. UN support focused on improving accountability, digitalization and rights-based justice delivery for women, children, persons with disabilities, R&E communities, and individuals at risk of statelessness.
Legal and policy alignment with international and EU standards progressed, with UN technical feedback provided on draft amendments to the Criminal Code from gender, child rights and cultural heritage perspectives, and support to revise the Law on Cultural Heritage, including measures to combat trafficking of cultural property. Justice institutions strengthened their capacities through regional learning and cooperation with Albanian policymakers participating in three regional conferences on diversion and restorative justice for children, Barnahus models for child victims of violence, and integrated justice and care responses, supporting and informing the design of new national strategies planned for 2026.
Digital transformation enhanced justice system efficiency and transparency. A national digital database for free legal aid was designed and piloted, standardizing procedures, improving coordination and strengthening accountability. The system was supported by targeted training for 31 central and regional staff, NGOs and service providers, enabling nationwide scale-up. Use of child-friendly interview units in police departments increased by 8% compared to 2024, and data entry into the Integrated Data System for Justice for Children was broadened to include judiciary. Progress was also achieved in justice interoperability, IT capacity strengthening, and hardware upgrades, paving the way for an integrated digital justice ecosystem.
Good Governance, Participation and Voice
In 2025, Albania continued advancing inclusive governance, participation and accountability, while recognizing the need for sustained efforts to address complex
challenges such as corruption, human trafficking, cybercrime and money laundering, and to further strengthen public trust and access to justice,
particularly for women, youth and marginalized groups.
Participatory local governance and civil society engagement were strengthened, with 39 CSOs implementing 54 community-based projects across at least 12 municipalities, contributing to environmental protection, tourism and cultural heritage promotion, and local policymaking. Participatory planning and budgeting processes enhanced citizen engagement, transparency and responsiveness of municipal governance. Ethical standards in public discourse were reinforced through support to the Albanian Media Council,
strengthening professional ethics and responsible reporting.
Youth leadership and civic participation were significantly expanded through coordinated support to the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda, with key results achieved under the regional UN JP Youth 4 Inclusion, Equality & Trust, implemented jointly by UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNESCO.
Data and Evidence
Significant progress has been made with SDG monitoring and evidence-based governance, with strong performances in most areas though with notable gaps remaining for SDGs 8, 14 and 16. Albania’s SDG index score of 75.16 places it 45th out of 167 countries. Key improvements in statistical performance are reflected in the rise of Statistical Performance Index, from 64.9 in 2016 to 85.1 in 2023. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including data gaps in rural–urban disaggregation, gender statistics and the lack of a culture of evidence-based
policymaking.
To address the above challenges, the national statistical systems and data-use for policymaking were reinforced through UN support to advance data production and analysis, including Census 2023 population projections and secondary analysis, MICS, Time-Use Survey, VAW surveys and strengthened gender statistics capacities at central and local levels. In-depth Census analysis on R&E communities and persons with disabilities enhanced disaggregated evidence for inclusive policymaking.
Child- and youth-focused data systems were strengthened significantly as Albania advanced preparations for MICS 2026, with support to INSTAT and line ministries on indicator selection, questionnaire design and pre-testing, household listing, and deployment of Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing systems. Continued support to Steering Committees and Technical Working Groups ensured strong institutional ownership, coordination and sustainability of national data systems, laying a solid foundation for high-quality data collection and the generation of timely, reliable evidence to inform policies, programmes and investments for children and adolescents.
High-value analytical products improved accountability and policy relevance, including publication of the Census 2023 Thematic Report: Children and Youth in Albania, one of the most comprehensive and disaggregated evidence bases on children and young people. The report highlighted demographic shifts, inequalities linked to poverty, disability, ethnicity, gender and geography, and informed child-centred policies aligned with the SDGs, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) commitments, and national EU integration agenda.
Public Sector Accountability and Quality Services
Albania continued to strengthen public administration and governance in 2025, advancing regulatory alignment, inter-institutional coordination, digital transformation, and
rule-of-law capacities.
Justice and governance systems were modernized through digitalization, with progress in the operationalization and interoperability of key platforms. A comprehensive needs assessment for the General Prosecutor’s Office case management system was completed, while two major procurements, an independent IT security audit and an upgrade of
IT networking infrastructure, strengthening data protection, system integrity and operational efficiency.
Rule-of-law enforcement, as well as anti-corruption and border management capacities were reinforced, particularly in addressing cross-border crime. Front-line officials benefited from targeted training on risk-based border control, illicit trafficking, and detection of illegal goods, while Albanian practitioners actively engaged in regional workshops and operational exchanges.
Accountability and Oversight for Human Rights
Albania continued to strengthen alignment with international human rights standards, advancing legal and policy reforms on gender equality, child rights and nondiscrimination,
in line with Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), CRC, Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations and the country’s EU accession priorities.
Important progress was achieved in 2025, though implementation gaps remain, particularly with regard to strengthening institutional capacity and independence of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), such as the People’s Advocate and the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, data availability and delays in appointing key officials. Institutional capacity and accessibility were strengthened, with UN supporting the Human Rights Academy, developing an online platform promoting bodily autonomy, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive rights for persons with disabilities and conducting a National Inquiry in three municipalities on accessibility of infrastructure, information and services across gender-based violence (GBV) response institutions. Collaboration with the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination was enhanced to promote human rights compliance in the private sector.
Parliamentary oversight and democratic accountability improved, supported by sustained UN engagement. On International Children’s Day, Parliament symbolically opened its plenary session with a child alongside the Speaker, reinforcing commitment to child participation. On Human Rights Day, Parliament reconstituted the Friends of Children caucus with 28 MPs, strengthening child-focused advocacy for the duration of the legislative mandate. MPs also engaged directly with adolescents from UN Advisory Groups, informed by U-Report consultations nationwide.
Migration and Asylum
Albania continued to advance its migration and asylum management in alignment with the country’s EU accession priorities and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Building on the National Strategy on Migration 2024–2030 and its Action Plan and on the National Action Plan for Combatting Human Trafficking (2024–2025), the Government of Albania made significant progress across governance, protection and integration frameworks, ensuring more coordinated, evidence-based and rightsoriented
migration management.
Governance and institutional capacity was strengthened through enhanced policy development, technical improvements, and targeted capacity-building measures. Albania advanced institutional coordination and alignment with EU benchmarks, including adoption of the national Contingency Plan for mixed migration flows. Evidence generation was expanded through Displacement Tracking Matrix operations, enabling better monitoring of migrant profiles, mobility trends and emerging needs. Child-sensitive protection mechanisms were further consolidated, including through development of Standard Operating Procedures for Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC).