Albania continues to implement the Istanbul-Convention

Albania has achieved a historic victory for equality and human rights.

The Parliament has passed the Gender Equality Law, whose definition aligns with the Istanbul Convention and, most importantly, retains Article 6, which protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

The amendment to the Civil Status Law, which had restricted legal recognition to two genders based on biological sex, has also been reformed, introducing a low-threshold procedure.

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This success is the result of the solidarity and persistence of many Albanians, with the women’s movement and the LGBTI movement standing strong together despite weeks of moral panic and disinformation spread by anti-gender actors.

Another European country has reaffirmed that equality is a shared foundation of democracy — and that no hate campaign can undermine the progress achieved through a united civil society.

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We congratulate the many actors at the national and international levels, who are committed to diversity and democracy!

Diversity enriches, while hate divides and excludes.