Linda Rama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 30, 1964
Linda Rama | |
|---|---|
| Spouse of the prime minister of Albania | |
| Assumed role 11 September 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Edi Rama |
| Preceded by | Liri Berisha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Linda Basha December 30, 1964 |
| Spouse(s) |
Thanas Xhillari
(m. 1989; div. 2005) |
| Children |
|
| Occupation | Economist, author |
Linda Rama (née Basha; born December 30, 1964) is a senior Albanian economist (Doctor of Economics), researcher, university lecturer, and advocate for women's and children's rights.[1] She is the wife of Albanian prime minister Edi Rama.
After graduating from the University of Tirana School of Economics in 1987, Linda began her professional career at the Tirana Textile Combine.[2] Just one year after the fall of communism (1992), she left Albania to pursue advanced studies in Prague, Czech Republic, becoming the first economist with a master's degree in economics to return to Albania in the 1990s.[3] In 1996, she obtained a Ph.D. in Economics with a thesis on "The Economic Reform and Mass Privatization in Albania". Between 1993 and 1998, Linda Rama offered her expertise at the highest levels of public administration (National Privatization Agency under the Council of Ministers), first focusing on the privatization of large and strategic state-owned enterprises and later as Director General of the Agency (1997-1998). In March 1999, she co-founded the Human Development Promotion Center (HDPC) and has since served as a consultant to numerous international institutions.
She was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Share Registration Center, which preceded the establishment of the Albanian Stock Exchange (1996–1999). Throughout her professional life, Linda has held various positions, including member and chairman of the board of the Open Society Foundation in Albania (2005 - 2010), member of the board of directors of the American Bank of Investment (2015 - 2018), and Lecturer in International Finance at the University of Tirana, School of Economics, and Lecturer in Public Policy and Risk Management at the European University of Tirana.
Her strong academic and research interests have always been strongly driven by her sensitivity towards the most vulnerable groups of society, such as children, women, vulnerable categories, people with disabilities or minorities.[4] In 2001, she was one of the co-founders of the Albanian Children's Alliance,[5] and in 2002, she was an accredited participant in the meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children. At present, she continues her engagement as a researcher at the Human Development Promotion Center (HDPC) and as a consultant to various international institutions with a focus on economic, public policy and human development issues.
Since 2010, Linda is married to the 33rd prime minister of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama.
Early life
Rama was born into an old Tirana family. Her father was a musician and played the horn, while her mother worked in the administration department of the former Auto-tractor Combine. As a child, she attended the "Kosova" Primary School, which operated under a then experimental bilingual system (Albanian and English), and the 8-year "20 Vjetori" School in Tirana. She completed her secondary education in Industrial Chemistry and graduated with honors[6] from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana, with a degree in industrial economics in 1987. In the same year, she started teaching as a part-time lecturer at the university, focusing on organization and planning of industrial enterprises. In 1992, Rama was admitted to the Central European University in Prague, where she earned a master's degree in economics.
After completing her studies, Rama returned to work as a lecturer in international finance at a public university and later taught public policy and public risk management at the European University of Tirana.
Professional career
Rama's first professional experience was at the Tirana Textile Combine,[7] a typical socialist enterprise, where she was employed after graduation. After completing her master's degree in economics, Linda returned to Albania to join the National Privatization Agency under the Council of Ministers as an officer responsible for designing and implementing the privatization of large strategic enterprises. During her time at the agency, Linda Rama made a significant contribution to the introduction of modern market concepts, including joint stock companies, mass privatization, shares, investment funds, guarantee funds, stock exchange, etc.
One year after completing her Ph.D., between 1997 and 1998, Linda Rama was appointed Director General of the National Privatization Agency once the pyramid schemes collapsed. Rebellion of 1997
In addition to her undergraduate studies in economics, Linda Rama specialized in the labor market and the financial restructuring of companies. During and after her Master's studies, Linda Rama collaborated with renowned scholars and professors from other countries, with whom she has numerous collaborations in scientific research.
In 1999, she co-founded the Human Development Promotion Center (HDPC), one of the first think tanks in the Republic of Albania. HDPC plays a crucial role in promoting constructive dialogue on topical issues such as the economy, governance, human development, public administration, regional development and related reforms.
Between 1996 and 1999, Linda Rama served as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Share Registration Center, which preceded the establishment of the Albanian Stock Exchange (1996 - 1999). She was also appointed as a member and Chair of the Management Committee of the Open Society Foundation in Albania (2005 - 2010), and later as a member of the board of directors of the American Bank of Investment (2015 - 2018).
Scientific Research
Linda Rama is the main author, co-author and contributor of dozens of studies, reports, articles and publications focused on the economy, private sector development, governance, education, human development and public administration, combining a strong academic interest with her own active interest in issues of public concern and special sensitivity towards the most vulnerable groups of society - women, children, vulnerable categories, people with disabilities and minorities.[8] In the course of almost 30 years of scientific research, Linda Rama counts more than 50 articles[9] and reports on economic, social and human development issues in Albania, published in the country and abroad.
As a main author, co-author and contributor, she has published articles, evaluations or monitoring reports for major international organizations such as the World Bank, International Labour Organization (United Nations Organization), UNDP, UNWOMEN, University of Staffordshire, LSE, ETF, CASE Foundation, etc.
She has worked with such notable figures as Leszek Balcerowicz, a two-time deputy prime minister and minister of finance of Poland. Balcerowicz's was the initiator of a series of reforms that ended hyperinflation, balanced the budget deficit, and dismantled inefficient economic structures in the early post-communist years in Poland; Ewa Balcerowicz, CASE Poland, Iraj Hashi, professor at the Staffordshire Business School, Alia Moubayed of the Middle East Institute, Sergej Tsvetarsky, President of the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, Farhad Merham, ILO International Expert, Arjan Gjonçaj, associate professor at the LSE, Peter Middlebrook,[10] etc.
Public profile
Civic engagement in gender equality, children's rights and ethnic minorities has gone hand in hand with Linda's research work.[11] She has authored, co-authored and contributed to many publications on the situation of the most vulnerable groups in society. Publications such as Improving Ethnic Relations in Southeast Europe,[12] Human Development Reports,[13][14][15][16][17] Regional Millennium Development Goals Reports,[18] Monitoring Report on the Implementation of the Roma Decade in Albania,[19] Developing a Sustainable System for Addressing Violence against Women in Albania,[20] Assessment of Trafficking in Children for Exploitation Purposes in Albania,[21] Poverty Alleviation and Social Integration of People with Disabilities,[22] etc. have had a significant impact on steering public policies focused on children,[23] women[24] and vulnerable groups.
In 2001, together with representatives of six other civil society organizations, Linda Rama co-founded the Albanian Children Alliance, an Albanian-based civil society movement for the protection of children's rights, part of the larger Global Children's Movement, under the motto "Say YES for Children". Ms. Rama was accredited by the UN to participate in the preparatory committee meetings for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children in 2002.
Linda Rama has participated in many important human rights forums and summits, including the Global Women Summit in Tirana,[25] the Global Women Club Kosovo,[26] the Women in Leadership Forum in Dubai,[27] the Young Muslim Women Summit,[28] the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum, and others. She joined the Cherie Blair Foundation's Women's Entrepreneurship Day appeal in support of women entrepreneurs from low and middle income countries with Cherie Blair, Hillary Clinton and other international personalities and later a second appeal "Pave the Way to Girls". In March 2022, Ms. Rama sent a message of solidarity to Olena Zelenska and the people of Ukraine.[29]
Linda Rama believes that maintaining or not a public profile, as the wife of a Prime Minister, is a personal decision. "In making this choice, my first and abiding conviction has been the right of the public to demand and receive the deserved effective protagonism of the person they elected as their Prime Minister, not that of his spouse."[30]
True to her choice, Linda Rama has been present in public only in those instances that she has deemed meaningful and useful to the public. She has been a vocal advocate for causes she believes in, calling for greater public attention to children, women in communities, the role of women in the media,[31] government, politics, etc.
Personal life
Linda Rama married Thanas Xhillari in 1989 and they have one daughter, Rea Xhillari. Since 2010, she is married to Edi Rama, the 33rd prime minister of the Republic of Albania. They have one son, Zaho Rama, born in 2014.
The Ramas are an interfaith family. Linda Rama was born in a Muslim household. Edi Rama has declared himself Catholic, Rea and Gregori (Edi Rama's son from a previous marriage) are Orthodox, while Zaho's faith will be his choice.
