Since joining UNESCO on 16 October 1958, Albania has demonstrated its continued commitment to UNESCO by upholding its values and principles, as well as its strategic objectives, through active and engaged participation in the work of the Organization, fostering cooperation, dialogue, transparency and coherence.
As a long-standing partner of UNESCO, Albania is a strong supporter of effective multilateralism, sharing UNESCO’s goals of promoting peace and security through cooperation in the four main fields of the Organization: Education, Science, Culture and Information.
As a Member State of UNESCO, Albania seeks to intensify its efforts towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through joint efforts and inclusive dialogue. Some of our priorities for action include quality education, the protection of cultural heritage while addressing the impacts of climate change, respect for fundamental freedoms, support for the diversity of cultural expressions, digital transformation, and leaving no one behind — with broader participation of women and young people in all four areas of the Organization’s work.
Albania has been elected to various UNESCO bodies: three times to the UNESCO Executive Board. At the 34th session of the UNESCO General Conference, Albania was elected for the second time as a member of the UNESCO Executive Board for the period 2013–2017. Albania’s success and commitment to UNESCO’s policies were reaffirmed in 2017, with its re-election for a second consecutive term to UNESCO’s highest decision-making body, for the period 2017–2021. Most recently, during the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference, Albania was elected for the fourth time as a member of the Executive Board for the period 2023–2027.
Albania has been elected twice as a member of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, for the period 2010–2014 and for the mandate 2026–2030. In 2017, Albania was elected as a member of the Committee of the 1970 Convention on the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property and served as Chair of the Committee for the period 2017–2018.
Albania is also a member of the Joint Groups of Friends for Heritage, for Gender Equality, for the Prevention of Violent Extremism through Education, and for the Safety of Journalists.
Albania’s properties recognized and protected by UNESCO
Albania has a rich cultural and natural heritage, recognized and protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These properties include both tangible cultural and natural heritage, as well as intangible cultural heritage. Below is a full overview of the elements inscribed on the relevant lists of UNESCO’s Cultural Conventions.
1. Tangible Cultural Heritage
Albania has inscribed four properties on the World Heritage List, established under the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, ratified in 1989, as follows, in chronological order:
- Butrint (1992), inscribed as a cultural property.
- Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra (2005, extended in 2008), inscribed as a cultural property.
- Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (2017), inscribed as a natural and transnational property, together with 18 European countries.
- Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region (2019), with the Albanian component inscribed as a mixed cultural and natural transboundary property with North Macedonia.
2. Intangible Cultural Heritage
Within the framework of the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, ratified in 2006, Albania has inscribed four elements on two lists established by the Convention.
The following elements have been included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity:
- Albanian folk iso-polyphony (2008);
- Transhumance: the seasonal droving of livestock (2023), a transnational element inscribed together with nine other countries: Andorra, Austria, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania and Spain;
- K’cimi of Tropojë (2024).
- The art of playing, singing and crafting the Lahuta (2026).
The following element has been inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding:
- Xhubleta: skills, craftsmanship and forms of usage (2022).
These elements reflect the diversity and richness of Albania’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage, contributing to national identity and offering valuable contributions to world heritage.
UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme
The Memory of the World Programme aims to preserve the documentary heritage of humanity and make it accessible to all, while raising awareness of its cultural importance for humankind as a whole. In the International Register of this programme, Albania inscribed the “Berat Purple Codices” in 2005, thereby protecting them as a precious asset for all humanity, and in 2025 the “Marubi” Photographic Archive.
