Report on Cross-Sector Meetings in Albania
Held in Tirana on 21/02/2017 and 22/02/2017
According to the planned activities of the project “Increasing capacities and strengthening the role of regional CSOs for improving labour conditions and labour dialogue with Public institutions”, implemented by the Balkan OSH Network, with partner in Albania AOSHC (Albanian Occupational Safety and Health Center) on 7-th of December 2016, 21 of February 2017 and 22 of February 2017 held in Tirana three Cross-Sector Meetings.
The objective of the meetings were: Identification of needs, shortcomings and problems of civil society organizations, trade unions organizations and media, their involvement and policy-making in society, building partnerships between them in decision-making, encourage dialogue to improve working conditions, facilitate exchange of knowledge, skills and connections as well as increasing and expanding their influence in campaigns and advocacy in the strategic operational plans and policies at national and regional level and also raising public awareness of the importance of professional practices, social issues and civil organizations.
A series of 3 cross-sector meetings were organized in Tirana on the 7th of December 2016 and 21 and 22 of February 2017.To ensure due attention is paid to the specific stakeholders to attend the meetings at the 3 cross-sector meetings were invited different audiences. Namely, at the first meeting we included stakeholder CSOs, trade union organizations that operate independently or in companies and media. In the second meeting we included licensed OSH companies, licensed OSH expert that operate independently, civil society institutions, independent media organisations etc. and in the third cross-sector meeting we included representatives of public institutions that are actors in OSH issues like representatives from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of Economy, State Labour Inspectorate (SLI), Institute of Public Health, Medical Faculty, Central Inspectorate, Mining Inspectorate media organizations and others. Some of the meetings priorities were;
- Create lasting communication channels between all actors in the project stakeholder
- Raise visibility ofCSO
- Structure cooperation to advocate policy changes in the country.
Participated at the cross-sector meeting also Mr. Milan Petkovski, President of BALcanOSH Network and Project Manager and Mr. Fatmir Saracini, representative of KOSHA.
At the beginning of the cross-sector meetings Frosina Gjino, project officer, delivered a brief presentation focused on reviewing the existing OSH legal framework, the current state of OSH and labour conditions and public awareness of these topics. After that, Ms. Eda Beqiri, Chief of Sector of Safety and Health at Work of State Labour Inspectorate presented current OSH legislation and legal gaps.
Those meetings were highly interactive and give to each stakeholder group an opportunity to demonstrate their relevant expertise and ideas for making progress in the OSH field and adopt concrete joint conclusions and commitments. The participants expressed their ideas based on three main pillars:
Pillar A- How to improve labour protection with effective OSH policies and legal framework. The actual situation in Albania, based in the questioners.
Pillar B. Why we should develop and strengthen of OSH network to enhance social dialogue and to influence the results of safety and health at work.
Pillar c- Why we should establish transparency and effectives of the OSH system and institutions by strengthening capacities for transparent governance and effective implementation of OSH policies.
The discussions of the participants adopt concrete joint conclusions and commitments that will help to improve OSH in Albania as following;
- Building of motivation and ability to employers to manage OSH risks effectively and motivation of workers to promote safer workplaces and participate in OSH consultations.
- Development and strengthening of OSH network to enhance social dialogue and to influence the results of safety and health at work.
- Increasing the ability of employers to effectively manage risk in OSH and motivation of employees to take part in consultations process of OSH issues.
- Active participation of employers and employees organizations in the development and implementation of actions to promote safety and health at work.
- Organization of meetings to strengthen the capacity of trade unions to represent the legitimate interests of workers on OSH practices and systems.
- Delivery of training to social partners’ representatives (employers’ and workers’ organizations) on OSH topics according to the results of a prior training needs analysis.
- Enabling of regular representation and participation of Albanian social partners in OSH-related events organized by national and international institutions.
- Encouragement of the involvement of union representatives and senior management representatives in each inspection visit.
- Carrying out of OSH risk assessment by employers and involvement in this process the representative of workers or representatives of Safety and Health Councils.
- Inclusion of OSH requirements in any contract for the purchase of goods or services, employment offers and collective bargaining etc.
Groups cooperated on concrete information campaign needs and ideas, with the goal of gaining their interest and commitment as well as preparing them for future cooperation opportunities. The conclusion was that it is necessary the law to be referred to the general framework, but with detailed guidelines for each workplace, also covering specific areas. There’s necessity for new methods in the health sector, as keeping records of injuries and occupational diseases. The capacity of the SLI is limited and there’s a need for expanding their capacity. Current and emerging problem in the OSH sector, is the lack of OSH experts and the immediate need for the training and certification of them.
The visibility of the meetings was according to the project rules. This meetings created lasting communication channels between all stakeholders of Albanian OSH network and raised visibility of project activities.
Following are some photos of Cross-Sector Meetings held in Tirana on 21 and 22 of February 2017.
