Economist and activist Linda Rama is much more than just the wife of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Journalist Màrio de Castro met her for Luxus Magazine and brings you an exclusive interview.
Who is Linda Rama, wife of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama? Linda is an economist and graduated from the University of Tirana in 1987. She obtained a master’s degree in economics from the Central European University (CEU) in New York in 1993. She also holds a doctorate in economics. She has been a lecturer in international finance and public finance at the University of Tirana and a lecturer in public policy and public risk management at the European University of Tirana.
From 1993 to 1999, Linda Rama was a consultant for the National Privatization Agency under the auspices of the Council of Ministers and served on the supervisory board of the Stock Registration Center, which preceded the establishment of the Albanian Stock Exchange.
Linda is co-founder of the Human Development Promotion Center (HDPC), one of Albania’s first think tanks. She is an author, co-author, and research expert in areas such as governance, human development, the labor market, education, social protection, and private sector development in Albania and neighboring regions.
Linda Rama is co-founder of the Albanian Alliance for Children and an advocate for the “Say Yes For Children” movement. She has long been committed to defending human rights and civil society, particularly those of children and women.
The booming and sustainable Albanian tourism sector is the official host country of ITB Berlin 2025. Tourism is a fast-growing sector. In 2024, 11.7 million visitors traveled to Albania. The majority of foreign direct investment (FDI) came from Turkey, followed by Italy. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), there are five reasons to invest in Albania: a liberal and reformist investment climate, an optimal geographical location, economic growth and stability, the development of infrastructure for high-end tourism, and a strong focus on sustainable development and the environment. Hotels, airports, marinas, art centers, museums, government initiatives, and infrastructure improvements are among the factors contributing to record growth in tourism.
A breathtaking coastline, rich historical sites, a vibrant culture, natural beauty, and modern hospitality, along with promising projects for the future, are putting Albania on track for new economic and social records.
Interview
M de C: Would you call yourself a woman’s human rights defender?
Linda Rama: Albania is at the top of the list on the United Nations chart for women’s representation in politics and society. I find myself and my generation as civil society activists in a position to fight for women’s rights and women’s representation. We are not doing this with our own interests in mind. I think that the first mission is to make a difference, because we are supposed to make a difference as women, and there are so many things that we can do better than men. And making a difference is not to just doing it, it is to keep on doing it!
M de C: Do you think the battle for women’s rights is never-ending?
Linda Rama: To fulfil whatever functions you have or terms of reference you have in government the difference has to be made in parliament. For instance, when you know that something is not happening in a certain community, you shouldn’t ever feel that you must accept it. This status quo should be stopped. We are raising another generation now, one completely different from my generation, so you must fit with whatever this new generation needs. Although Edi has been very supportive – and I’m very grateful for people like Edi and others who are somehow conscious of the need to increase women’s representation – I don’t feel this is happening, and sometimes I become a little frustrated.
M de C: As a woman born and bred in Albania you’ve made a successful post-communist transition. What is your vision for the future of women in Albania?
Linda Rama: I grew up with a grandmother who worked full-time in the home, who invested all her talent, intelligence and authority in the family without ever having a chance to prove herself beyond those walls. My mother is the typical woman of socialist realism.
She worked at work and at home, without ever removing her attention and care on our well-being, encouraging us to get an education and instilling in us a sense of work and responsibility. Life for women in a communist state was difficult and arduous to the point that every woman in those decades deserved to be called a hero.
My mother did only one job all her life, the job chosen for her by the state. As I see her today in her eighties, and how she manages to use all the advantages that technology creates for the provision of information, communication and solutions, I am sad that she didn’t have the opportunity to discover herself and use all her potential.
However, my mother was lucky enough to see her daughters more educated than herself, who did the work they chose to do and not what the state or ideology would have chosen for them, and who managed to face an extremely difficult transition in every sense.
Whereas, for my daughter and two nieces, the spectrum of rights is unmatched and equally unmatched is that of opportunities where they can navigate and live out their dreams and passions. What I described very briefly above has developed in very complex and difficult contexts with large efforts to reach the civilized world while battling daily with our complicated Ottoman-communist past.
Today there are still girls and women writhing in the clutches of this past, just as there is a huge army of girls and women engaged in education, health, social services, justice, arts and culture and up to the highest levels of public administration, governance and policy making. The clear progress and great power of this army makes me believe that all girls and women of the future will have crossed the threshold of submission and will be capable to live the life they chose and not the one chosen for them. Meanwhile, no vision of the future for women can be separated from the vision of the future for boys. The time has come to talk equally about both, the future of girls and boys.
M de C: You share your life with Edi Rama, the Prime Minister, who together with his political responsibilities is also an artist. What is that life like for you?
Linda Rama: Have you ever asked the question, “how does a Prime Minister who is also an artist cope with a wife who is a professor and researcher of public policies and at the same time a civil activist?” To answer your question, I can say that Edi’s political responsibility as the Prime Minister of Albania makes it impossible for our attention to be limited to each other’s coping skills, but to try to make every minute of Edi’s useful for his transformative vision for Albania. Is this hard? Yes, it is hard.
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Featured Photo: Linda Rama’s portrait
