The Local Democracy Agency Albania is back in action to promote good local governance and citizen participation in the southern part of the country. Following a recent process of revitalisation based upon a new successful partnership strategy, several meetings have taken place in 2014 and 2015 to identify and link together all local and regional governments as well as civil society associations from Albania and the EU supportive of the relaunch process.

The new LDA, will be established in Vlora, has officially been launched on 24th October on the occasion of the international seminar on “Improving citizen participation and good governance at local and regional level in Albania”, following the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding. The event was an opportunity to present the LDA project to key stakeholders from the local to the international level. The objectives and the expected outcomes of the LDA have been showcased by all the partners supporting the project: ALDA, Apulia Region, the Metropolitan City of Bari, Region Vlora, the Municipality of Vlora, the Municipality of Fier, the Municipality of Patos, Center for Reserch, Cooperation and Development, UNISCO and Learning Cities.

“Supporting local democracy in Albania: best practices and challenges” was the title of the first panel of the event, moderated by Mr. Oriano Otočan, President of ALDA.

“The Local Democracy Agency in Vlora city is a cornerstone to strengthen the local democracy and to accelerate our path towards the European Union” stated Mr. Dritan Leli, Mayor of Vlora, while Mr. Sadrit Danaj, President of Region Vlora, said “The LDA will be our point of connection with Europe”. Both the Municipality and the Region of Vlora cooperated with interest and commitment to the relaunch of the LDA.

LDA Albania joins the well-established network of 14 LDAs under ALDA’s umbrella. The LDA programme represents a key and innovative tool to good local governance in the Neighbourhood. It supports capacity building of civil society and local authorities and implements activities at the local level. The LDAs are by principle not based in capital cities. The Local Democracy Agencies act as promoters of democracy and local self-government and also promote human rights and sustainable development. The Agencies are an operational platform of debate, capacity building and shared cooperation between civil society and local authorities.

Read more on the ALDA website