Head of OSCE Presence, Dutch Ambassador visit Assembly to mark milestone in parliamentary support project
The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Henk van den Dool, visited the Albanian Assembly on 5 April 2011. They were received by Speaker Jozefina Topalli to mark the conclusion of the Dutch funded phases (2002-2010) of a parliamentary support project implemented by the Presence.
Topalli hailed the project as helping increase the transparency and efficiency of the Parliament’s activities. She said the assistance had helped transform the Assembly into a role model of transparency and modernization among the country’s institutions.
Project activities included working with Assembly personnel to enhance their grasp of the EU integration process and the relationship of Albanian’s legislation to the EU Community Acquis, as well as increasing their management, IT and English language skills. The project aimed to strengthen parliamentary infrastructure and improve communication between the Assembly and the public. The Assembly library was expanded with almost 500 new titles, and new reading and studying premises for both Members of Parliament (MPs) and staff were created.
A high-quality IT network was established within the project framework which meets the standards of other European national parliaments. This has enabled the Assembly to broadcast plenarysessions online as well as to make verbatim transcripts of the sittings and minutes of standing committees made available online quickly after meetings and hearings.
Ambassador Wollfarth announced during the visit that the Presence's support to the Albanian Assembly will continue during 2011, focusing on strengthening and modernizing senior management and decision-making structures, promoting information transparency and accuracy, strengthening the participatory role of MPsand interest groups through improvements of the Rules of Procedure and assistance to the standing committees, and facilitating regional co-operation at MP and staff level.The Presence has been implementing activities to support the modernization of the Albanian Assembly since January 2002.