Established in 1994 as the Women’s Center, Gender Alliance for Development Centre is a non-partisan non-profit organization with over 20 years of experience in research, public education, capacity development assistance, monitoring, and advocacy. GADC promotes democratic development and good governance with special focus on gender equity and social inclusion.
GADC is a leading CSO in Albania and in South East Europe recognized for its role in introducing crucial issues regarding women’s rights and social inclusion. We address key issues such as gender-based violence and human trafficking, or economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, and advocate for key legislation and policies, such as the Law “On Violence in Family Relations” and the introduction of gender budgeting at the local and central government level. Our work has brought about significant improvement in addressing gender inequality and social exclusion of vulnerable groups in the country. Since its beginnings, GADC has implemented more than 100 projects that have affected the lives of thousands of beneficiaries throughout Albania.
GADC has a track record of successful collaboration with various stakeholders, including a wide range of Albanian CSOs and CSO networks, public institutions at the central and local level, regional and international organizations and networks, the private sector, the media, and the academia. Some of GADC’s key partners over the years include: a large number of NGOs operating in Albania and abroad, different donors and international bodies, public and private institutions such various municipalities, ministries, different institutions, American Chamber of Commerce, Trade Unions, businesses, media outlets etc. GADC draws its strength also from its large network of experts and trainers from universities, government institutions, and CSOs in Tirana and other regions.
GADC has provided extensive capacity development assistance and training to national and local CSOs with a view to strengthen and improve their impact at the local and national level. The wide network of CSOs with which GADC works has made it a transformative force and a platform for sharing experiences and transferring knowledge to counterparts all over the country.
For more than 20 year GADC given the contribution to many directions summarized below:
Strengthening capacities of civil society. GADC provided support to many local CSOs in monitoring and influencing local agendas and policies. GADC has proudly supported tens of CSOs to get established, set up management systems, develop constituencies, network, fundraise, and advocate. This includes CSOs that are now at the forefront of efforts to advance gender equity, free and fair elections, and vulnerable groups empowerment, such as the center “Vatra” in Vlora, “Women in Puka” association, Albanian Women Empowerment Network, and the Coalition for Free and Fair Election and for Sustainable Democracy. For the last two organizations, GADC served as an incubator for the first two years of their life. When the new law on NGOs entered into force, GADC assisted CSOs to understand and implement it in everyday life. On another instance, GADC assisted grassroots CSOs and media to promote and facilitate public demand on women economic rights, especially targeting vulnerable and marginalized communities in rural, informal, and urban areas. This included providing training to build capacities of local and small CSOs to influence local and national policy agendas. GADC has also offered networking opportunities to these organizations with their peers in other cities and countries, in order to extend their networking opportunities, experience sharing and lessons learned. During 2000 – 2004 GADC, with support by ILO, trained 300 women all over Albania to start up businesses and improve their managing skill.
