In the framework of the project "Gender Responsive Budgeting" in the Municipality of Vlora and Sarane, funded by UN Women of Tirana, our organization "Change Centre" after consultations and meetings with different interest groups, women, girls, young people, public officials, civil society activists and advocates, has drafted a series of recommendations for the Municipality of Vlora and Saranda, with the aim of improving social services for women and girls in these municipalities.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VLORE MUNICIPALITY

• Regarding the implementation of the legal framework on gender equality at the local level it is worth mentioning that for the first time we have an equal representation in the 50% Municipal Councils of each gender, a very positive development for the benefit of Albanian women and girls. And of course, a great achievement is the election of a woman in charge of the Saranda City Hall, Florina Koka;
• Regarding employment in the local administration, there are also satisfactory improvements as women and girls certainly have already exceeded the minimum 30% quota, but more can be done with regard to the allocation of leadership positions to the respective directorates of each gender;
• There is already a coordinated reference and treatment mechanism for domestic violence along with multidisciplinary services and we hope to coordinate the actions between Saranda Municipality and local civil society actors for the continuity and well-functioning of this mechanism in support of battered women;
• The Municipality has shown interest in supporting vulnerable groups through various projects with the support of various donors. Supported target groups are: victims of domestic violence through referral mechanism, employment of young people and women, support of new entrepreneurship initiatives, minority involvement, etc. Gender mainstreaming criteria have been applied in these initiatives;
• Regarding the basic data on social services there is a modest data base that needs to be enriched and regularly updated as there are no gender-disaggregated data at municipality level to ensure proper gender planning, programming and budgeting;
• Social services are generally limited and consist solely in the economic assistance service (NE) and for persons with disabilities. The Municipality has allocated an additional budget from its own revenue for Economic Assistance as well as for victims of domestic violence.
   

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SARANDE MUNICIPALITY

• Activating social co-operation tables initiated by the Municipality by focusing on gender equality issues and promoting the representation of women and girls in local decision-making institutions.
• The well-functioning of a special center for abused and trafficked women, the sustenance of care and emotional treatment, in addition to the economic care of the Municipality in partnership with civil society.
• Continuous growth of projected budget revenues from the Municipality's budget for economic assistance to women in need, women with disabilities, children in need and the elderly.
• Support with training and professional courses for women and girls in the scheme of economic assistance with the aim of encouraging them to be employed in the field of services, crafts, tourism and the promotion of local products.
• Building a stable and functional market to serve women and girls to trade handicrafts and products during the tourist season;
• Activation and operation of public urban transport in the territory of the city of Saranda, as well as the favoring of special categories such as; invalids, economic assistants, veterans, and students for free public transport in the city.
• The extension of the public transport timetable connecting Saradnas to Ksamil during the tourist season and the increase of stations that women and girls working in the tourism sector have access to public transport,