📋 Tender Overview
Contract partner: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme - Albania
Country: Europe, regional/international Contract type: Standardvertrag Project start: 01.11.2025 Funding amount: € 2.250.000,00 End: 31.10.2028
SHORT DESCRIPTION:
Overall goal
The project aims to enhance access to justice for women and men in Albania and North Macedonia as part of their EU integration processes by improving the quality and effectiveness of the free legal aid (FLA) system.
Expected results
- Enhanced legal aid framework in Albania and North Macedonia, aligned with EU standards and international human rights law.
- Strengthened capacities of primary and secondary legal aid providers to ensure high-quality, human rights-based FLA services.
- Consolidated Free Legal Aid services for disadvantaged communities and women.
- Network of legal aid providers established between both countries, promoting collaboration and the exchange of best practices.
- Capacities of CSOs and local institutions enhanced to provide specialised services, particularly addressing gender-based discrimination, and to advocate for rule of law enforcement.
Target group / Beneficiaries
Target group:
Albania: Ministry of Justice and Free Legal Aid Directorate ; legal aid providers, CSOs, the National Chamber of Advocates, National Chamber of Mediators and others.
North Macedonia:
Ministry of Justice and its regional departments/offices, authorised CSOs, Legal Clinics, the Chamber of Mediators, the Ombudsman Office, Chamber of Lawyers.
Beneficiaries:
Approximately 8000 persons, such as victims of domestic and gender-based violence, women and girls facing vulnerable situations, ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups as well as 450 trined legal professionals.
Geografically, the project will be active in 13 regions in Albania and across all eight regions in North Macedonia.
Activities
The project will strengthen the capacities of legal aid management institutions and service providers through trainings, workshops and joint exchange forums to better address the legal needs of disadvantaged communities and women. It will promote dialogue and collaboration among legal aid providers, mediators, civil society organizations , and National Human Rights Institutions to enhance the accessibility, quality, and sustainability of free legal aid.
Context
In the past five years, Albania and North Macedonia, along with other Western Balkan countries, have made significant strides in aligning their legal and policy frameworks with international human rights standards, as acknowledged by the European Union (EU) and other international organizations. In Albania, the 2017 Law on State-Guaranteed Legal Aid, a key element of justice reform required for EU accession, provides equal access to justice for both men and women in need. In North Macedonia, the 2019 Law on Free Legal Aid aims to improve access to justice, particularly in light of EU accession goals. This project bu
