OSCE Presence organizes event on performance of six Local Safety Councils in Albania

The OSCE Presence in Albania organized an online meeting, on 4 March 2021, to present the findings of an evaluation report on Local Safety Councils (LSCs) in six targeted municipalities.

The LSCs are local structures that bring together state institutions, civil society and religious communities to discuss and improve multi-agency co-operation, and address local security and safety issues. They are present in all 61 municipalities of Albania, and the first three were initiated by the OSCE Presence in Albania in 2016.

“The Local Safety Councils approach stands at the core of the OSCE’s body of commitments, as it encompasses a wide range of values that the OSCE strongly upholds and continuously promotes to all participating States: all-inclusiveness, participation and collaboration,” said Vincenzo Del Monaco, Head of OSCE Presence.

The report, prepared by an external expert, assesses the functionality and effectiveness of LSCs in Elbasan, Cërrik, Librazh, Lushnja, Vlora and Puka – which the Presence supported in 2018 and 2019, to strengthen their capacities — and offers recommendations for improvement.

According to the report, the Councils need to further regulate their work and guarantee the highest possible level of participation from all stakeholders; increase their members’ knowledge about their role and co-ordination in response to crisis managements, natural disasters and other public safety challenges. Also, the Councils need to develop tools to monitor their action plans, and explore ways to increase public perception and support to local security.

The report also offers guidelines on the role of Local Safety Councils on crisis management, and provides a training package for two other LSCs that the Presence will support this year.

Deputy Minister of Interior and Chair of Tirana Municipal Council Romina Kuko, who helped establish the first LSCs when she was an OSCE Presence staff, and representatives of several municipalities spoke at the event.

In 2021, the OSCE Presence will support the LSCs of Korça and Berat through tailored training, awareness raising campaigns on domestic violence, and youth empowerment on safety and security.