The election campaigns during the parliamentary elections of 25 April, 2021 in Albania, were quite dynamic and with a noticeable increase in the number of female MP candidates. However, these figures did not translate into higher representation of women in the media contents. The audio-visual media during the last parliamentary elections continued to have gaps in the coverage of issues and topics related to women and girls.

WFD office in Albania partnered with the Albanian Women Empowerment Network (AWEN) to monitor the election process and to better understand the level of participation of women in the lists of MP candidates of political parties. Also, WFD researched the role of media on covering women candidates and issues related to them. The main purpose of this finalised monitoring report was to closely assess the media coverage of problems related to women and girls during the parliamentary elections of 25 April, 2021. The monitoring process was focused on the 9 largest media outlets on the national level (4 TV channels, 1 radio station, 3 portals, and 1 daily newspaper), and was extended to a period of 2 months between March and April 2021. Among other questions, the report also addressed the issues of:

• To what extent did the media cover and address the issues of women and girls during the election campaigns?
• How much space in debates and various public meetings was given to women in this period?
• Can women go beyond the mentality of their political party?

This report also presents data on the coverage of women’s issues by the media in the 2021 parliamentary elections. Please note this resource is in Albanian. A summary is available in English.