4. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion 3 is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made over 35 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 31st UPR Sessions.4 5. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS)5 is a civil society alliance of NGOs, lawyers, academics, and other independent experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. Based in London, it currently has 130 members in 40 European countries. ENS organises its work around three pillars – law and policy development, awareness-raising and capacity-building. ENS provides expert advice and support to a range of stakeholders, including governments. 6. The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)6 is a Roma-led international public interest law organisation, working to combat anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma. The approach of the ERRC involves strategic litigation, international advocacy, research and policy development and training of Romani activists. The ERRC has consultative status with the Council of Europe, as well as with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Previous UPR of ALBANIA under the First and Second Cycle 7. Albania was previously reviewed under the UPR in 2010 (under the first cycle) and 2014 (under the second cycle). 8. In the first cycle, (the 13th session of the Human Rights Council, January 2010), there were no recommendations to Albania that were specifically on statelessness. Albania received three recommendations on the treatment of the Roma: I. II. III. 3 Fully implement its action plan to improve the living conditions of minorities, especially Roma (Canada – at para 80); Increase the involvement of local authorities in the National Strategy on Roma and equip the Strategy with adequate financial means and evaluation mechanisms (France – at para 81); Continue fostering educational attainment of Roma children as indicated in the 2004 common country assessment report (Israel – at para 84); For more information about ISI, please see www.institutesi.org/ 4 For more information on the Institute’s UPR advocacy, see http://www.statelessnessandhumanrights.org/upruniversal-periodic-review/resources-database. 5 For more information about ENS, please see http://www.statelessness.eu/. 6For more information about ERRC, please see http://www.errc.org/. 2