My e-Participation Story | Page 5

This was followed by the achievement of several agreements on 13 September 2013, where one of them and the most important was the Resolution of the UN Security 2118. This is set by the UN and EU as historic resolution which should be served as a standard for the international community, in context of the threats. Tirana officially stated to contribute to peace and national security and the Albanian government considered to take part in the Syrian weapons to be disposed in our country. Once this news was made public in Albanian media, I remember that there were many reactions. Environmentalists and toxicologists expressed that we didn’t fill the capacity and lacked technicians, students organized massive protests. The thing that led us to gather was social media. Everyone expressed their opinion on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It was calling the rest of the people to stop the implementation of this decision. What made it official was drafting an online petition where everybody who disagreed had the right to sign on their behalf. AKIP petition (No to Assat Chemical Weapons in Albania) was created by Gjergj E., directed to the Albanian government. The reason was clear: “Albania does not have the capabilities to store necessary hazardous waste and it lacks necessary stability to guarantee the security of such waste”. The Prime Minister Edi Rama shared on his Facebook to announce the final decision in his speech on 15 November. My friends and I, all of who have abandoned school for many days, gathered in front of the prime ministry building that day to hear the final decision. The government decided not to dispose hazardous waste in the country. This was my first experience of this kind, which resulted positively thanks to our online accounts that enabled us to participate in the decision-making on such an important issue. �5