The

People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

joined the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

on 14 December 1955, and has participated in several UN peacekeeping operations. The current Representative of Albania in the UN is Mr.

Ferit Hoxha Ferit Hoxha (born 22 February 1967 in Koplik, Albania) is the Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations, in New York City. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2015, was succeeded by Besiana Kadare, and again assumed t ...

. Albania is a non-permanent member of the 15-country

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

for the two-year term (2022–2023).

History

1955–99

After joining in 1955, Albania started to apply for membership in other organisations of the

. On 16 October 1958 Albania became a permanent member of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. From the 1960s onwards, the

People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

under

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

moved an annual resolution in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

to expel the "representatives of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

" (an implicit reference to the ROC) and permit the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(PRC) to represent China at the UN. Albania played an important role in the process of recognizing the PRC as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" through

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (also known as the Resolution on Admitting Peking) was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required any change in China's representation in the UN be ...

, which was adopted on 25 October 1971. In November 1973 Albania joined the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

. During 12–13 May 1990 the UN Secretary-General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra (; ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as Prime Mini ...

visited Albania. In 1992 the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Albania, marking important progress on the

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

record of the newly democratic country. Operation Silver Wake

In 1994 another resolution was prepared and introduced by the Albanian delegation to the UN, this time about the "Situation of Human Rights in Kosovo". Albania served as the main sponsor of the resolution, which was adopted with a clear majority of the UN membership. In 1995 the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Albania to the UN was elected Vice President of the 50th session of the UN General Assembly. After the

1997 rebellion in Albania The Albanian Civil War in 1997 was sparked by pyramid scheme failures in Albania soon after its transition to a market economy. The government was toppled and more than 2,000 people were killed. Various other sources also describe the violenc ...

, the UN adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 1101 on 28 March 1997, after reiterating its concern over the situation in Albania. The Security Council established a multinational protection force in the country to create conditions to facilitate humanitarian assistance. On 19 June 1997 after recalling Resolution 1101 on the situation in Albania, the Council authorized an extension to the multinational force in the country for a further 45 days, beginning on 28 June 1997 through

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1114 United Nations Security Council resolution 1114, adopted on 19 June 1997, after recalling Resolution 1101 (1997) on the situation in Albania, the Council authorised an extension to the multinational force in the country for a further 45 days, be ...

2000–present

In 2005 Albania was elected for the first time a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, for a two-year term until 2007, and in 2012 reelected for the second time. In 2013 it also served as Vice President of the ECOSOC. During 2007–09 it was member of the Governing Board of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

. On October 21, 2014, Albania joined the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2015–17, and was elected vice-president of its Bureau for 2015. Ambassador

Besiana Kadare Besiana Kadare is an Albanian diplomat. She served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations, a Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 75th session, and A ...

presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

in 2016, and since then has been the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations in New York. On 27 January 2019, marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Kadare co-hosted together with the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

and the

United Nations Department of Global Communications The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (previously named the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and support o ...

a conference titled "A Story of Humanity: The Rescue of Jews in Albania." In June 2020 Kadare was voted a Vice President of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

for its 75th session. Albania was voted to become a member of the 15-country

for a two-year term, in 2022–23. Kadare said Albania's priorities in the Security Council will include a focus on women, peace, and security, promoting human rights and international law, preventing conflicts, protecting civilians, countering violent extremism, addressing climate change and its links to security, and strengthening multilateralism and the rules-based international order. The election took place on June 11, 2021.

Peacekeeping missions

Albania has participated in the following peacekeeping missions led by the UN:

Representatives

References