The roundtable was moderated by human rights activist Xheni Karaj, who presented a review of the uphill battle human rights defenders and journalists often face in Albania to advance causes and report abuses.
Two dozen journalists, civil society activists and experts in the field of human rights attended the roundtable in Tirana as part of the project: “Promoting Accountability through Investigative Journalism,” financed by the National Endowment for Democracy, NED.
This project aims to build bridges between journalists, experts and civil society activists, so that they can strengthen the fight against corruption and impunity through investigative journalism.
The aim of the roundtable was to identify important issues or problems that civil society believes should be investigated in the respect of human rights and freedoms in Albania.
The findings of the roundtable will guide the main areas of BIRN Albania’s upcoming open call for three journalists to produce investigative articles focused on human rights.
During the roundtable, the participants discussed the following themes and topics: sexual violence and off-line bullying of children in school; digital rights violations; smear campaigns against journalists and media disinformation against human rights activists; labour rights; marginalized communities’ and migrants’ access to healthcare; reintegration of victims from conflict areas; lack of institutional capacity; migrants’ access to social services; human rights in prison and other closed institutions; access to vaccines for children’ access to information and digital services; sexual harassment, etc.