MJAFT Live Green Campaign

Mjaft

24 May 2006

The MJAFT Movement started the �Live Green� campaign. One of its activities is a caravan that will travel in 10 Albanian cities from 15 to 25 May, organizing discussion forums, between the public and the local and central authorities, and will also take some cleaning initiatives, to give the good example and to raise awareness.

The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) defined Albania the home of some of the biggest environmental problems in the Balkans. The actual economical development in Albania has a higher priority than the environment issues, whilst we must understand that this development cannot be stable, if it does not create spaces for the protection of the environment.

Even though the government has fulfilled most of its �legal duties� on the environmental issues, the problem consists in the implementation of these laws. For instance, in 2000, Albania ratified the Aarhus Convention, which gives the citizens the right to get information on environmental issues and to participate in environmental decision-making, but this Convention cannot be implemented, since the Regional Environmental Agencies have no fixed phone lines where the citizens can call to ask information. The actions of the government for the environment protection should not be sporadic, but part of a strategy and real professional policies.

MJAFT has taken some steps for the environment problem in Albania. Our main objective is to shake off the civic apathy, so we are focusing in making the population aware, and be as active as possible to protect the environment, as well as involving them in the policy-making and decision-taking on environmental issues.

The MJAFT Movement has tried to create the necessary spaces for dialogue between the public and other organizations, which are specialized in this field, such as the EcoMovement. In this aspect, the MJAFT Movement organized in February a round table with different organizations, which work on environment issues, to discuss the problem of the illegal buildings in informal areas, which are often protected areas and are especially important for the Albanian environment.

As a result of this meeting, all the organizations sent the Prime Minister and the Albanian Parliament a letter, with the demand to take measures to stop the illegal buildings in the protected zones and they also requested for the civil society and the interest groups to be involved in the decision-taking process.