Albania modernizes address and civil registration systems with support from the OSCE Presence

TIRANA, 15 November 2007 - The Albanian government's work to computerize the country's civil registry and create a new address system was presented today at a conference organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania together with the Interior Ministry.

"The objectives of this project are critical issues for Albania on its way to further European integration," said Alex Finnen, Deputy Head of the OSCE Presence. "The OSCE Presence is pleased to provide assistance to this process that is being led by the Government, in particular the Ministry of Interior."

The aim of the conference was to inform interested institutions on current and future developments with modernizing the address and civil registration systems, and their impact on public services. More than 70 participants representing the main Albanian public institutions, international organizations and private companies as well as civil society groups took part.

Ferdinand Poni, Deputy Interior Minister, emphasized that the Government was fully committed to creating modern address and civil registration systems as well as providing biometric ID cards for citizens. Computerization of the registry books to develop an electronic register is the first important step in the process.

The conference was organized under auspices of the EU-funded project, titled "Technical Assistance to the Government of Albania on Modernization of Administrative Address and Civil Registration Systems", which is being implemented by the Presence with additional funding from the OSCE and the United States government.