12/09/2012 Equality and Non-Discrimination
Strasbourg, 12.09.2012 – The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination will meet in Tirana on 13-14 September 2012 with on its order of business – Thursday 13 – an exchange of views with the Albanian authorities focusing on anti-discrimination law and policy; gender equality; trafficking in human beings; the situation of Roma and national minorities; prenatal sex selection; discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Speakers include Jozefina Topalli, Speaker of Parliament; Spiro Ksera, Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; Irma Baraku, Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination; and Iva Zajmi, National Coordinator of the Government for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings.
On the same day, the committee is due to adopt the report by Maria Stavrositu (Romania, EPP/CD) on best practices for promoting gender equality in political parties. It will also be holding a hearing on “equality and non-discrimination in access to justice – a regional perspective”.
On Friday 14, the committee is organising a conference as part of the meeting of the Parliamentary Network “Women Free from Violence” on the theme “Legislators to make freedom from violence a reality”. This conference will be opened by the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Jozefina Topalli, and José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), PACE General Rapporteur on violence against women.
The meetings are open to the press.
Place: Tirana International Hotel and Conference Centre, Skanderbeg Square 8, Tirana
Date: Thursday 13 September 2012, from 9.30 am to 1 pm and from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm;
Friday 14 September 2012 from 9.00 am to 12.30 and from 2 pm to 4 pm.