The Board of Presidency of The Interreligious Council of Albania held its first meeting for year 2020 on January 16, 2020.
The meeting was attended by leaders of the five religious communities, who are also co-leaders of IRCA. The interreligious meeting held at the Headquarters of the Orthodox Church was opened by His Beatitude, Anastasios Yannoulatos, chairperson of the Interreligious Council of Albania, who thanked the participants for their joint commitments for year 2019. Pursuant to the rotation approved by the Council of Presidency, he handed over the duties of the chairperson of IRCA to Mons. George Frendo, also president of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Albania, who will hold the presidency of IRCA for year 2020.
Then, the meeting followed the agenda, which was announced by the Secretary General of the Interreligious Council, Dr. Genti Kruja, who presented the one-year report of IRCA. Among others, he mentioned that year 2019 marked a period with many commitments. In 2019, two important agreements were signed. The first one was with the international organisation “Religions for Peace”, thanks to which, the Interreligious Council of Albania participated in several international meetings and conferences in Germany, Belgium, Poland and the USA. This cooperation enabled funding of a project, through which the first National Consultations of the Interreligious Council were organised on June 20 and 27, 2019. They came up with some important recommendations which were sent to the 10th World Assembly of “Religions for Peace”, held in Germany in August 2019, in which IRCA participated with its delegates.
Another agreement was the one reached with the Coordination Centre for Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), at the Prime Minister’s Office, which is engaged in the fight against radicalization and violent extremism. Several seminars and trainings in the area have been organised in cooperation with CVE.
One of the most important decisions taken in year 2019 by the Council of Presidency was the decision to establish the Department of Women and the Department of Youth. Another area of activity was the sensitivity of IRCA to delicate issues at home, coming up with press releases. In 2019, two meetings of the Council of Presidency, three meetings of the Executive Board, one meeting of the Department of Women and one meeting of the Department of Youth were convened.
Then, the financer of IRCA, Mrs Shelda Agaraj, presented the detailed financial statement for the last eight months. During the meeting, the members of the Council of Presidency also discussed several important issues related to the ongoing engagements of IRCA as well as some amendments to the statute regarding publication opportunities by the Interreligious Council of Albania.
Një prej vendimeve më të rëndësishme të marra nga Këshilli i Presidencës për gjatë vitit 2019, ka qenë edhe vendimi për themelimin e Departamentit të Gruas dhe Departamentit të Rinisë.
Një tjetër fushë aktiviteti, ka qenë edhe ndjeshmëria e KNFSH-së ndaj situatave delikate në vend, duke dalë me disa deklarata për shtyp.
Gjatë vitit 2019 janë zhvilluar gjithashtu dy mbledhje të Këshillit të Presidencës, tre mbledhje të Këshillit Ekzekutiv dhe një mbledhje e Departamentit të Gruas dhe një me Departamentin e Rinisë.
Në vijim të mbledhjes financierja e KNFSH-së, znj. Shelda Agaraj ka pasqyruar raportin e plotë financiar të detajuar të Këshillit Ndërfetar për 8-mujorin e fundit.
Anëtarët e Këshillit të Presidencës gjatë kësaj mbledhjeje kanë diskutuar edhe për disa çështje të rëndësishme lidhur me angazhimet e KNFSH-së në vazhdimësi, si dhe disa ndryshime në statut përsa i përket mundësisë së botimeve nga ana e Këshillit Ndërfetar të Shqipërisë.
