Link between Transition and Vulnerable Groups in Albania

Link between Transition and defenceless Groups in AlbaniaThe link between renewing and conquerable groups in Albaniagenus Viola SadushajSupervisor Edith FAVOREUResearch topicThe link between transition and open groups in AlbaniaProblem nationmentVulnerable groupsAlbania sh ars with the rest of Europe a cultural and historical heritage with roots in the Hellenic, Roman, and Ottoman civilizations and the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim religions.The countrys level of economic maturation and its physical and genial infrastructure ar like those of the poorest and least-developed areas in Africa and Latin America. The Albanian population has al styles been undefended to the problems of poverty and isolation from the outback(a) world1. Neither the presidency nor the kinship profitss sw aloneow had the capacity to settle for the societal upheavals brought about by the fall of Communism. Since that time, new vulnerable groups harbour arisen as a direct result of th e fragmentation of the social structure.The transition in Albania is characterized by volatile and dramatic disruptions. The country is searching for a way out of its economic and social uncontrollableies without a clear nose out of direction, and with little social cohesion to sustain whatever policy the Government may choose. Transition is characterized by disorienting, chaotic events, a loss of traditional social norms and organizational arrangements, a lack of credibility on the ploughshare of new political leadership, and the appearance of intermediate institutions operating as enclaves and thoughtless from the dynamics in the baseball club. The events of 1991, threw the country into a state of chaos that has been unforeseeable in terms of both duration and outcome, making it truly difficult to achieve social progress in a cost-effective, equitable, and compassionate way2.Albania is experiencing the emergence of social demand that cannot be addressed simply in terms of poverty reduction. Poverty reduction strategies generally assume that when an interpretnce begins to improve within a scenario of greater political stability and alien investment, many an(prenominal) of the poor and unemployed will be mainstreamed into procreative occupations3.The transition in Albania has identified two main conditions of vulnerability (a) social exclusion, which marginalizes people via the mechanism of rejection from mainstream society, and (b) gender abuse, which marginalizes women via the threat or use of violence. much(prenominal)(prenominal) conditions have created at least seven highly vulnerable groups in AlbaniaYouth at risk of abandoning civilise Dropping out of school exposes increase meter of youth to the risk of social exclusion, street mendicancy in Italy and Greece, and, in the case of girls, gender abuse. It is as well an important instrument in the resurgence of illiteracy, lack of economic opportunity, and general cultural diminishment. lurch and aband integrityd children This group holds orphans, children abandoned by their families, and those with physical handicaps. Such children were po 10tly penalized at a lower place the communist regime and their condition has not improved. Today their song are change magnitude and they are even more marginalized due to the disruptions and outgrowth partitioning of family relationships, which are their only guarantee of survival.Young men at risk of criminal behavior Young men who have finished school are at risk of becoming socially excluded and ultimately recruited by the criminal economy. The incidence of this phenomenon is correlated with the income level and employment opportunities in the various areas.Young men at risk of drug habituation This group is recent origin, present mainly in Tirana and other urban centers, but besides rapidly expanding in punyer cities. Albania is becoming one of the major drug crossroads in Europe, with cannabis widely civil in the south and heroin coming in from Turkey.Abandoned time-honored Traditional Albanian values require the family to care for the elderly. Nevertheless, massive migration and the breakdown of lengthened families is resulting in their neglect. Social institutions to care for the elderly are short and unprepared to meet demands for assistance by the increasing be who do not have children or are not payed by children who have emigrated.Women at risk of gender abuse The fall of Communist regime has worsened the condition of women. Young women are initiated into prostitution about exclusively by close friends or boyfriends, many of them linked to organised crime. There is also a resurgence of the pre-Communist betrothal tradition which exposes puppylike women to the risk of violence both within and outside the family. As a result of this lack of security, parents are keeping girls out of school.The vulnerable groups have varying features depending on where they are located. Al l seven groups are put together in large numbers in the cities and farming(prenominal) communities of the middle and coastal regions, where uncontrolled migration flows are accelerating the breakdown of the traditional family structure in the consideration in which no mechanism are in indue to support the emergence of strong nuclear families. The lack of economic opportunities for men and women in these areas, combined with the surge of criminal organizations are illegal residences, are producing increasing numbers of abandoned elderly, women, and children and are putting an entire young generation at risk of drug use and criminal activities that victimize others.Problems caused by transitionLoss of state employment,Insecurity due to crime and battalion activity,Family disaggregation.Priority needs of peopleImprove employment opportunities,Credit for small business,Improve infrastructure water supply, power, transportation lines, telephone and communication systems and so onI mprove social services,slap-uper security,Education and health services,Reduce the corruption.In this phase of transition, Albanias representative institutions are formally in place but operationally inadequate, while social intermediary organizations much(prenominal) as citizens standstills are few and hold in scope. Large areas of the country, particularly in the north and east, are still organized according to extended family and kin group relationships that control local administrations and have little interface with central establishment institutions. The emergence of the new vulnerable groups in society is at betting odds with the prevailing kinship ties, and their interests are scarcely represented in Albanias derelict body politic.The countrys political institutions are further weakened by the inveterate polarization between the Geghs (speakers of the northern dialect) and the Tosks (speakers of the southern dialect) in interior(a) governance and the central adminis tration. In addition, the countrys labor unions, a driving force for social protection in Albania (as in all European countries), have collapsed as a result of closure of state industries, leaving industry and factory farm largely to microenterprises and family units. National cohesion also suffers from a fragmented insisting and the limited coverage of national issues. Religion does not have a significant official political impact in the country, although Moslem and Christian leaders express views on social issues such as miscarriage and education. As a result of all these factors, decisions relevant to large numbers of people are usually made through consultations and negotiations within cosy networks.At the central level the institution that presently endeavors to address the needs of vulnerable groups is the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Women (MOLSAW). The Ministry operates through its Policy Department and two autonomous subdivisions the National Employment funct ion (NES) and the General Administration of Social Services (GASS). Most of MOLSAWs budget comes from the Finance Ministry, although efforts are being made to trace foreign donors and to set up special funds supplied by outer aid. MOLSAW is now practicality the only source of financing for social programs, although the law enables rural communes and urban municipalities to levy taxes.In 1996, the NE share of GDP change magnitude slightly from 1995, with an al close certain decrease in kinfolk allocations, and a negative but unquantifiable effect on particularly vulnerable household members. In 1996, households receiving cash benefits were estimated to be approximately 20 percent of all households 35 percent according to World Bank estimates. Large numbers of poor are not eligible for the NE program, including those who moved to urban areas later on December 1995- an exclusionary measure designed to slow migration to urban areas. Moreover, many who are eligible cannot get ben efits due to the lack of eternizes.The Government provides limited social services through benefit institutions such as orphanages and homes for elderly, with very few social workers monitoring situations of poverty and social exclusion of individuals or groups. At present, thither are only 22 Government welfare facilities in the entire country, operated by GASS and located in several communes. They include 5 residences for homeless and abandoned elderly, housing a total of threesome hundred persons (30 applicants are on a waiting list and there are 7,500 pending request for admission) and 7 centers for the handicapped (1 each in Tirana, Berat, Korca, Lezha, and Durres, and 2 in Shkodra). Facilities and attendant services are grossly inadequate. The Government estimates that there are 27,000 handicapped individuals in the country, 6,000 of whom need specific, long-term treatment, which is unavailable. None of the 12 regional GASS offices has a physician on staff.The role of NGOs The traditional extended family and clan-based structure of Albania, together with the half century of Communism, have produced a society in which civic associations, including those active in the care of vulnerable groups and use to social development, are still scarce4. Nevertheless, the number of indigenous NGOs has been increasing over the past years, and many foreign NGOs are also active. These organizations provide a range of social services but act kinda independently from one another, and often with little interface with government.Legislation concerning NGOs has been under consideration for some time, including a bill that would license NGOs working with vulnerable groups, as well as establish a mechanism to transfer resources from MOSLAW to those NGOs. The system would presumably consist of a grant fund operable for NGO projects or NGO-run activities the NGOs would be selected to run certain projects on the basis of tenders. MOSLAW would have the responsibility to insp ect and monitor NGO activities funded through that mechanism.The Albanian NGO Forum, the main umbrella organization, includes more than 200 indigenous NGOs, of which roughly 90 appear to carry out some activity, while the others attend to exist in name only the numbers are inexact due to the lack of registration standards. Most of the organizations are minuscule (one to three persons) and have little in the way of a track record or a well-defined mission. According to the Forum, no more than ten are able to carry out social service programs, and most of these are linked with foreign NGOs or NGO networks, or are supported by international organizations. There are no mass-based, grassroots NGOs. The Forum is oriented toward national development and civil progress issues. Of its 90 operative members, 18 are dedicated to womens issues, and 4 of these are express to be influential in promoting networking among women to place gender issues on the national agenda. Others are involved in providing microcredit and skills training, thereby acting as entropy bridges to open up new economic and social status to their beneficiaries. Many of these are rural women, who are encouraged by such programs to start their own businesses.A number of international NGOs are also active in Albania, the largest network of which is run by the Catholic Church. This network consists of worship, education, health, and social service centers staffed by a total of about cytosine religious and lay personnel. The activities are carried out mainly in Tirana and major centers in the traditionally Catholic northern regions. Several Islamic NGOs also run childcare, education, and health programs. Some lay NGOs are active in issues concerning women, children, and babies and one, the Soros Foundation, is becoming involved in the Albanian Development Funds urban microcredit program. While the international NGOs are making valuable contributions to human welfare, still their presence in the count ry remains suboptimal, which prevents them from undertaking programs that could have a system-wide impact.Research QuestionsIs the transition transit inclusive or exclusive regarding vulnerable groups?Does the transition process contribute to specific changes for the vulnerable groups?What should do the state of Albania to address a better response to these vulnerable groups in this process of transition?BibliographyBooks-Alexandra Barahona De Brito, Carmen Gonzalez Enriquez, Paloma Aguilar, The politics of Memory and Democratization transitional Justice in Democratizing Societies Transitional Justice in Democratizing Societies, OUP Oxford, 2001.-Attila Agh, Emerging Democracies in East primordial Europe and the Balkans, Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 1998.-Clarissa De Waal, Albania today a depicting of post-communist upheaval, I.B.Tauris, 2007.-Elez Biberaj, Albania a state-controlled moverick, Westview Press, 1990.-Fatos Tarifa, To Albania with love, The Rowman Littlefield P ublishing Group Incorporated, 2007.-Fatos Tarifa, Max Spoor, The first decade and after Albanians democratic transition and consolidation in the context of Southeast Europe, CESTRAD, prove of Social Studies, 2000.-Hans-Peter Jost, Christina Kleineidam, Fatos Lubonja, Albania in transition 1991, Benteli, 2011.-James Pettifer Miranda Vickers, The Albanian Question, Reshaping the Balkans, I.B.Tauris, 2007.-Krassimira Daskalova, Caroline Hornstein Tomi, Karl Kaser, Filip Radunovic, Gendering Post-socialist Transition Studies of Changing Gender Perspectives, LIT Verlag Mnster, 2012.-Lavinia Stan, Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and Former Soviet coalescence Reckoning with the communist past, The Routledge, 2009.-Lavinia Stan, Transitional Justice in Post-Communist, Romania, The Politics of Memory, Cambridge University Press, 2012.-Matteo Fochessati, Rubens Shima, Sandra Solimano, Arte in Albania prima e dopo il 1990 cosi vicina, cosi lontana, Silvana, 2009.-Misha Glenny, The Balkans, Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, 1804-2011, Penguin books, 2012.-Neil J.Kritz, Transitional Justice How emerging democracies reckon with Former Regimes, US Institute of Peace Press, 1995.-Olivera Simic, Zala Volcic, Transitional Justice and Civil Society in the Balkans, Springer, 2012.-Owen Pearson, Albania in the twentieth century a history, volume III Albania as dictatorship and democracy From isolation to the Kosovo War, The Center for Albanian Studies in association with I.B.Touris, 2006.-Peter Lucas, foreword by Fatos Tarifa, The OSS in World War II Albania collusive operations and Collaborations with Communist Partisans, McFarland Company, Incorporated Publishers, 2007.1 Clarissa De Waal, Albania today a portrait of post-communist turbulence, I.B.Tauris, 2007, pg.5.2 Clarissa De Waal, Albania today a portrait of post-communist turbulence, I.B.Tauris, 2007, pg.6.3 Clarissa De Waal, Albania today a portrait of post-communist turbulence, I.B.Tauris, 2007, pg.8.4 Albanian NGOs are most active in sectors such as health, education, culture, youth, women, and the environment.