Good governance matters a great deal in getting equitable and sustainable development results, where the vision and leadership at the political level gain full effectiveness when shaped in full engagement with the people. Giving ordinary citizens a voice and a stake in their government and economy helps ensure effective resource allocation and service delivery which is responsive to people's needs. A functional rule of law system providing that the law works equally for everyone is a critical aspect for development.  Albania faces multiple challenges that drive vulnerabilities, including weaknesses in rule of law, uneven institutional capacity, service gaps. The pandemic deepened gender inequalities, disproportionately affecting women, their livelihoods and access to essential health services, and increased incidents of gender-based violence.

UNDP works with the government, parliament, independent national institutions and local governments, to improve the quality of governance for sustainable development. Albania has pursued crucial reforms in its efforts to ensure stable institutions, a functional democracy which upholds the rule of law and guarantees the respect of human rights. UNDP works to  integrate gender equality into all aspects of its work to reduce poverty, build resilience and helping to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda. UNDP recognizes the centrality of human rights to sustainable development, poverty alleviation, sustaining peace and ensuring fair distribution of development opportunities and benefits and is committed to supporting "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."

UNDP will broaden partnerships for a stronger good governance framework, in line with the National Public Administration Reform Strategy. UNDP fosters a citizen-centered, gender-sensitive, inclusive approach, while further developing institutional capacities in policymaking and implementation, promoting a culture of participation and dialogue for development, and increasing transparency, integrity, and accountability.

Based on its initial successful experiences in rolling out integrity planning in municipalities, UNDP will build national capacities to bring to scale and monitor this initiative.

Innovation and digitalization will be explored to establish robust, modernized, and efficient service delivery. UNDP will support integrated citizen-centered services and further expand municipal one-stop-shop networks to reach remote, mostly rural areas.

UNDP will support legal, policy, and institutional reforms related to human rights commitments and civic awareness and participation; capacity development for policymaking and monitoring; and access to justice for vulnerable people.

UNDP supports the People’s Advocate and the Commissioners for Information and Data Protection and Protection from Discrimination.

UNDP works towards ending all forms of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence and unfavorable social norms and gender stereotypes, supporting coordinated referral mechanisms and integrated services such as accessible psychological and legal support, safe accommodation, and accessible emergency and specialized support. It will continue to support the Government to address structural and systemic barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment in policy formulation and implementation and to generate quality gender-disaggregated data for targeted, informed investments and quantifying of results.

The programme will support improving the availability of data and a more data-driven culture for strengthened sectoral analysis, evidence-based policymaking, and promotion of a culture of accountability and performance assessment.  Policy analysis and formulation will include a gender equality focus and gender-disaggregated data. UNDP will engage gender champions and support increased civic engagement and platforms for dialogue.