Anjeza’s life mission is to help women and girls affected by domestic violence

Anjeza Bojaxhiu was born and raised in Tirana. Since 2013, she has been working as the municipality’s coordinator for domestic violence. Anjeza is also an alumnus of the ICLD’s Human Rights Based Approach training programme.

We present her in our series Champions of Local Democracy.

– Every day at work, I hear about serious cases of violence against women and girls in all forms. In my work as a community coordinator, I have made this my life’s mission – to help women and girls who are victims of violence in their communities, says Anjeza.

Anjeza, who studied a Masters in Human Rights at the University of Manchester in the UK, specialising in women’s rights, has undergone a number of training courses, of which the ICLD’s Human Rights Based Approach programme has been one of the most enriching and relevant, according to her.

– The programme has given me the right tools and knowledge on how to help, especially women and girls in my community, based on a human rights approach, she says.

During the programme, which ran for 18 months, Anjeza worked on a change project as part of a team with two other participants from the Tirana municipality, focusing on gender equality and the fight against gender-based violence and the inclusion of vulnerable women in political decision-making. The two other participants in the team were Grejsi Bixhi, City Councillor of Tirana Municipality and Marsela Allmuça, Executive director of Shelter Edlira Haxhiymeri (SEH) and assistant lecturer at Tirana University.

The project, which has proven to have a good and direct impact on the quality of life of women and girls and their families, has also enjoyed a high level of political commitment and support on the issue of increasing the participation of women and girls in decision-making processes. Thanks to the good results shown by the project, the municipality decided to encourage a new team to apply for another round of the programme (2022-2023) and continue the work on similar themes

– I see women benefiting from the work started by the Municipality of Tirana, I have seen women fully integrate into society and change their lives. Women dare to break the silence and speak out. This motivates me even more to do everything I can to help women resume a journey free from violence,” says Anjeza.

Facts about HRBA
ICLD’s Human Rights Based Approach programme is a training programme that focuses on strengthening the capacity of municipalities to work in a rights-based manner and increase citizens’ ability to exercise their rights, particularly in relation to vulnerable groups.