VALDET SALA

Valdete Sala activity and engagement in civil society promotion goes back to 1990, when she initiated the first independent and not politically affiliated women NGO, Refleksione. Her activity was later extended involving other players rather than only women, aiming to build a broader alliance for promoting the civil society in Albania and developing democratic practices of governance.


In early 90’s her contribution addressed and focused mainly in the civil society capacity building for creating structures independent from the state, that were pretty much absent in the Albanian society of that period. The qualifications gained during these years were mostly related to civil society promotion and development; introduction of democratic practices for citizen and public participation in the governance; policy and strategy formulation; management and implementation; women leadership. In this period, she contributed to several organizations and initiatives (President of Refleksione; Chair Board of Albanian Foundation for Civil Society; Project Leader for Women Information & Documentation Center, Counselling Center for victims of domestic violence; Founding member of Library Association; member of Editorial Boards on several publications on civil society; team member of Human Development Report (UNDP); etc. 


This entire activity was crucial in developing additional experience in the field of civil society and also creating unique opportunities for contacts and collaboration with international organizations present in Albania in that period (UNDP, UNICEF, NOVIB, DANIDA, Health Over Sees, OXFAM; Open Society Foundation for Albania (SOROS); etc).


In the late 90’s and 2000’s the contribution of Valdete Sala was closely related to and followed the steps that the Albanian Civil Society was undertaking. In the same time, her appointment as SOROS Foundation’s Program Director gave her an opportunity and a better chance to supporting challenging ideas in civil society development and democratic governance through public participation. In a period of 13 years she was running the SOROS Programs of: Civil Society, Women Human Rights, Roma and Ethnic minority Rights, Library and Information, Law, Higher Education, Economic Reform, Art and Culture. 


Her experience was enriched by the ongoing practice of developing program strategies and assisting in the implementation of the funded projects, aimed at fostering the governance transparency to citizens and encouraging their active participation in policy and decision-making. Furthermore, she played a crucial role in the establishment of the women NGOs network in Albania. She collaborated continuously with the most prominent Albanian civil society organizations (she has been member of leading board of Co-Plan, board member of Gender Alliance for Development, board member of Refleksione, member of Advisory board of MJAFT, and very active with other organizations as well).


In 2005, Valdete Sala was awarded the National Prize for Civil Society Leadership, the first of its kind in Albania. 


In the period of November 2007 - February 2011, as the Team leader of the project “Strengthening Civil Society and Democratic Structures in Albania”, which was financially sponsored by GTZ (actually GIZ) and, implemented under the authority of Council of Ministers of Albania. Valdet Sala contributed in establishing the Albanian Agency for Civil Society Support as well as for finalizing the draft of the Civil Society Charter.


In December 2010, at the celebration of 25th anniversary of Albanian Helsinki Committee/AHC, Valdet Sala was awarded with the AHC award for her contribution in promoting the human rights in Albania.

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