Tag: Albania

Kristina Voko

Kristina Voko is the executive director of BIRN Albania and coordinates the network’s activities, fundraising and projects in the office in Tirana.

For more than ten years she has been engaged in coordinating and managing different projects for national and international organizations, concerning the development of policies, regulatory and legal frameworks; promotion of human rights and social inclusion through the empowerment of individuals and associations; training of professionals and other actors; promotional activities for communities; etc.

During her professional experience she has been involved in project development and planning, management of donor-funded projects and project cycle management for organizations like the Open Society Foundation in Albania, World Health Organization, etc.

Also, she has worked as a consultant for different actors, such as UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, Wold Vision, Terre des Hommes and Swiss Cooperation.

BIRN Albania Launches Anti-Corruption Programme

On April 1st the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania (BIRN Albania) launched a three year programme, which aims to expose corruption and impunity, through investigative reporting and closer cooperation between journalists and civil society organizations.

The programme will include training and mentoring for journalists in investigative reporting, quarterly calls and funding for stories that expose corruption in the public sectors, media monitoring of corruption, as well as joint brainstorming workshops between NGOs and reporters.

The programme aims at exposing corruption cases in eight different sectors, including Environment, Healthcare, Judiciary, Education, Public Administration, Local Government and Organized Crime.

The purpose of the programme is to contribute to overall democratization processes in Albania by bridging the gap between civil society organizations and journalists, building their capacities and creating the common ground for their joint action in exposing the corruption cases in the country.

In September 2014, BIRN will launch a new news website in Albanian, which will bring enhanced coverage of the main issues the country faces, with investigative reports, regular news and analysis.

Balkan Insight Media Watch Page Launched

BIRN has launched a special focus page on media in the Balkans – the first of its kind in the region.

All media-related news and analysis from the Balkans are now available on Balkan Insight’s Media Watch Page.

It features a brand-new analysis package on the media situation in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia.

It also features a regional analysis on the role of the EU. Some praise the EU for pushing for the adoption of media legislation that meets European standards. But others are more critical, saying that the EU should have been much more proactive in combating growing political pressures on independent media.

The launch comes ahead of the second ‘Speak Up!’ conference on June 20, at which the European Commission will gather hundreds of media experts from all over Europe to discuss media freedom in the Western Balkans and Turkey. 

In its progress reports, the European Commission has repeatedly set out its concerns about restrictions on freedom of expression and the media in the Western Balkans and Turkey, noting that threats to freedom of expression also threaten the foundations on which the “union of values” is built.

In an effort to identify solutions, the European Commission’s ‘Speak Up’ conference is bringing together participants from international, regional and national media organisations, civil society, academia and national administrations.

Besar Likmeta

Besar has extensive experience in journalism, having worked in print, television and electronic media in both the US and Albania since 2003.

Besar has been the editor for BIRN Albania since 2007, and serves as the country correspondent for Balkan Insight.

Besar started his career reporting for the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville, Florida. He moved to Albania in 2005 where he worked as a features editor for the Tirana Times, and a world news editor for the 24 hour news channel TV Ora News.

He has also contributed stories to various publications including The Christian Science Monitor, Global Post, Transitions Online, The Diplomatic Courier and World Politics Review.

In 2009 Besar received the CEI/SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism and in 2010 he was runner up to the Global Shining Light Award, presented at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Geneva. Besar studied philosophy at the University of North Florida.