Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA)
Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA)
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Highlights
This report was drafted by the Ombudsperson with the contribution of the Section on the Protection and Promotion of Child Rights, part of the ENOC network, and aims to assess the effects of the measures imposed by the government due to the COVID-19 pandemic on child rights and protection. This evaluation is conducted in the context of a joint initiative between ENOC and UNICEF ECARO on an assessment that involves ENOC member states and as such implements and abides by the ethical standards, principles, and guidelines of these organizations. Such initiative falls under the mandate of Ombudsperson of Albania, as provided by the respective law and the role of this institution to monitor the implementation of the Law on the Rights and Protection of the Child.
The child rights impact assessment, abbreviated as CRIA in this report, aims to assess the government-imposed measures on child rights. This assessment report is designed by utilizing a process and instrument that supports the assessment of the intended or unintended effect of legal and sub-legal acts enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of Albania, this was a hybrid assessment involving CRIE (Child Rights Impact Evaluation) for the already enacted legal and sub-legal acts and CRIA for the normative acts revised over the course of pandemic situation, to the extent that the responsible institutions made reference to the recommendations provided by this report.
The findings and recommendations of this report aim to identify the deficiencies observed in terms of the proportionality of the measures and the effectiveness of the functioning of the integrated response system, in order to draw conclusions and learn from the way the pandemic situation was managed and take appropriate measures for responding and adapting to emergency situations.
A very important component is the communication of CRIA findings and recommendations to all stakeholders involved, especially those state actors who played a role in proposing, initiating, implementing and monitoring measures during the pandemic. The purpose of such communication is to identify aspects that need to be improved in the future so the government bodies will fulfill the legal mandate within their area of government’s responsibility in a way that guarantees the effective exercise and adherence of child rights and their special protection.
The first COVID-19 case in Albania was confirmed in early March 2020. COVID-19 is a virus that can be transmitted directly through human contact or indirectly through contaminated surfaces and objects. Thus, upon the recommendation of the PHI, based on the experience of other previously affected countries, as well as the law on preventing and fighting against infections and infectious diseases, the Minister of Health issued the order on educational institutions closure, among other measures taken and acts issued to reduce transmissions.
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection was the key institution in charge of proposing or approving measures taken during the pandemic period, also based on proposals from the Institute of Public Health. An ad-hoc Committee was also established at this ministry, which was responsible to observe closely the situation and recommend appropriate measures for controlling and containing the spread of the virus.
