Launched in 1992, the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme promotes international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work.

The Programme supports the establishment of UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks in key priority areas related to UNESCO’s fields of competence – i.e. in education, the natural and social sciences, culture and communication.

Through this network, higher education and research institutions all over the globe pool their resources, both human and material, to address pressing challenges and contribute to the development of their societies. In many instances, the Networks and Chairs serve as think tanks and as bridge builders between academia, civil society, local communities, research and policy-making. They have proven useful in informing policy decisions, establishing new teaching initiatives, generating innovation through research and contributing to the enrichment of existing university programmes while promoting cultural diversity. In areas suffering from a dearth of expertise, Chairs and Networks have evolved into poles of excellence and innovation at the regional or sub-regional levels. They also contribute to strengthening North-South-South cooperation.Today, the Programme involves over 700 institutions in 128 countries.

You can learn out more about the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme on the official website http://en.unesco.org/unitwin-unesco-chairs-programme

UNESCO Chair at Marin Barleti University

The UNESCO Chair in “Multiculturalism, Intercultural Dialogue and Human Rights in the Balkans” at Marin Barleti is committed to promote an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation on multiculturalism, intercultural dialogue and human rights. It aims to facilitate collaboration between high-level, internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff  University and other institutions in Albania, as well as elsewhere in Europe and in other regions of the world.

The specific objectives of the Chair are to:

• Develop research on multiculturalism, intercultural dialogue and human rights with a view inter-alia to supporting the work of local and national educational and cultural authorities, publishing online and in hard copy, and organizing international conferences.
• Design new curricula on multiculturalism and intercultural dialogue, and enhance existing curricula on human rights by including issues of multiculturalism in order to offer an array of training programmes, including a joint Master’s.
• Develop regional cooperation with other universities in the field of training, exchange of ideas by means of a platform, exchange of lectures across borders, and establishment of an observatory on human rights and inter-ethnic relations in the Balkan area
• Cooperate closely with UNESCO on relevant programmes and activities, as well as with relevant UNESCO Chairs.

Chair Holder

Dr. Ervis Martani, UNESCO Chair in “Multiculturalism, Intercultural dialogue and Human Rights in the Balkans” and Jean Monnet Chair fellow. He attended from 2002 until 2007, the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Genoa, where he defended the Bachelor’s degree in International and Diplomatic Science and the Master of Science degree in Politics and Economy of the Mediterranean. From 2012 he holds a PhD on Democracy and Human Rights by the University of Genoa, funded by the Ministry of Education and Science as part of the Excellence Fund. The research work of Dr. Martani is focused on issues intercultural dialogue, human rights and minority rights. In these areas he has held various lectures at conferences and is author of specific publications on minority rights in the Balkan countries. Dr. Martani worked on various occasion at the University of Genoa, either as administrative personnel or as academic staff to support didactics. He also has a long experience in the integration of students with disabilities and the tutoring of different subjects of the Faculty of Political Sciences. He is also engaged in various projects dealing with human  rights and issues related to them.

The Team

Dr. Dorian Jano, is the Jean Monnet Chair Holder at Marin Barleti University. He received his PhD in Political Studies from the University of Milan. He holds a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Research and Studies on Eastern Europe (MIREES) from the University of Bologna, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. After completing his studies, Dr. Jano served as research fellow at the Institute for European Integration at the Europa-Kolleg Foundation in Hamburg (Germany) and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Collegium Budapest (Hungary). Dr. Jano has been a visiting scholar at the University of Arkansas, Clinton School of Public Servic and the University of Montenegro. His academic interest and research focuses on EU enlargement, Europeanization and South-Eastern Europe. He has presented on these topics at international conferences and has been published in international peer-reviewed academic journals.

Eurona Leka is lecturer of human rights and international organizations at Marin Barleti University. She holds a MA degree in Peacekeeping Management from Turin University and a Bachelor Degree in Political Sciences with a specialization in International Affairs from La Sapienza University, Italy. Actually she is a PhD Candidate in International Order and Human Rights at “La Sapienza” University in Rome. She focuses her research in the areas of human rights, international affairs and political studies. She is a regular researcher for the Albanian Institute for Democracy and is member of the working group for the elaboration of the Human Security Strategy. Ms. Leka has co-authored two international conference papers and is author of four others. She is also a regular member of Alb-Science and Institute of Sociology. Ms Leka has also over 3 years of experience within international organization such as World Food Programme, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, European Community Humanitarian Office and others.