World Bank lends $10 million to back women's access to economic opportunities in Albania

“This financing will support the government’s efforts to improve gender equality through the recognition of ownership of immovable property, creating opportunities for women to access income-generating activities, and strengthening gender-informed policy making,” the World Bank said in a statement on Thursday following a meeting of its board of executive directors. 

According to the global lender, despite improvements in recent years, legal and regulatory constraints, combined with implementation gaps, still hinder economic opportunities for women in Albania.

According to UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, only 8% of women in Albania own land although civil and family law recognise women’s equal right to land and property. "The laws are not implemented and women continue to be marginalized in matters of inheritance," UN Women said in a story published on its website, adding that women also lack information and awareness about their property rights.

The loan is expected to leverage 50 million euro of proposed financing from the French development agency (AFD), and a technical assistance grant from AFD to support the implementation of the programme, the bank added.

“The country loses an estimated 20% of its per capita GDP every year due to its low female labor-force participation rate, the overrepresentation of women in unpaid or poorly paid sectors, and lower average wages earned by women relative to men in similar positions,” the bank noted.

($ = 0.9084 euro)