Public Lecture: Enhancing participatory democracy at local level

On 21 May 2012, EMA in collaboration with “Aleksandër Xhuvani” University in Elbasan organized a public lecture on “Enhancing participatory democracy at local level”, where the distinguished guest speaker was His Excellency Mr. Henk G. C. Van Den DOOL, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Albania. This event was held in the framework of the project “Strengthening participatory democracy and demand for institutional accountability from youth in Albania” supported by National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The lecture was attended by students and professors of the university.

The event was opened by the welcome speech of Mr. Gledis Gjipali, Executive Director of EMA, who emphasized the importance of youth participation in the local decision-making process as an effective instrument in the light of improving institutional transparency and accountability. Mr. Gjipali also mentioned EMA’s several-year commitment and dedication to encourage participation and activism of the young generation in policy-making, as a promoter of democratic development.

Mr. Henk G. C. Van Den DOOL, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Albania, gave a lecture about democracy and the importance of participatory democracy. Throughout his speech Mr. Van Den Dool analysed the concept of democracy by making a parallelism between Albania and other European countries. In this comparison he criticised the administrative division of Albania — an element that to some extent contributes negatively in good governance and democracy. Further, Mr. Van Den Dool analysis focused upon accountability of democracy as the most important element that portrays government’s performance. For this element to function properly, a high degree of public participation is required. Hence, continuous public interest, specifically throughout young people as the shapers of the future.

In this framework, in her word, Mrs. Teuta Toska, Vice Dean of the University, presented her criticism about the lack of interest among students regarding their student council. According to Mrs. Toska, participatory democracy has its roots in the school environment. She called upon students to be more active and demand their rights throughout the student council, as the most important body that represents them in the decision-making process of each university.

The lecture was followed by an open discussion session where participants were eager to ask and hear the opinion of the ambassador.

Media coverage of the event can be found in our website, under the section “EMA in the Media”.