Child Protection
Exploitation, abuse and neglect of children have long been an issue in Albania. According to recent international reports, Albania continues to be a source country for human trafficking, particularly of women and girls for sexual exploitation and child labor in neighboring countries. In addition, the numbers of children who work and beg in the streets is high. Child protection mechanisms are very weak and respite services and long term solutions are still missing leaving children unprotected.
Save the Children in Albania’s response and efforts to improve this situation include promotion and the development of effective protection programmes for children and youth. The intent is to reduce their vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking. Plus, advocacy with key stakeholders to improve legislation and services towards the creation of a protective environment for children is a high priority.
Socio-Educative Centre for Integration
One of our protective interventions, implemented in partnership with the local NGO "Children of the World and of Albanian Human-Rights” (FBSH), is support to Socio-Educative Centre for Integration, in Tirana. This initiative involves the most vulnerable children that face poverty, do not attend school and experience discrimination, isolation and exclusion.
This center is located in one of the most impoverished areas of Tirana where 2,500 Roma/Egyptian people live. The poor circumstances in which these children live increase children’s exposure to exploitation and abuse.
To reduce and prevent child abuse and exploitation, FBSH offers informal education, material support, referrals and recreational activities as well as psycho-social support to families.
The center provides services, provisions and activities for approximately 300 Roma/Egyptian children (6-16 years) who benefit from improved access to education and gained life-social-vocational skills. Children here are also offered with development opportunities and recreational activities which help children to increase their self-esteem and confidence and empower them to make positive choices in life.
Drop-In Centre for Street Children
Children out of school, working and sometimes living on the street remain a big challenge. Children’s rights, as proscribed in the CRC, seem not to apply to these children. They beg for a meager living alone or together with parents/adults and do petty work such as car washing, selling cigarettes or collection of scrap metal. These children are considered to be at high risk of exploitation and abuse, including trafficking.
To provide protection and ensure support for children and youth who live and work on the streets, Save the Children in Albania and Save the Children (Italy), in partnership with the Municipality of Tirana, opened a Drop-In Centre for street children in January 2009
This centre provides a safe space where children can spend a few hours everyday together with other children and caring and professional adults. It helps children and their families with official registration, primary health care and sanitation, informal education and support to enroll in school. Children’s participation in center activities requires the approval of parents or guardians and their support is crucial for the child to participate in center activities and school enrolment.
Youth Centres
Save the Children in Albania supports the two Youth Centres in Kuçova and Cerrik.
Young people here have limited opportunities and many see migration as the only way to improve their lives. This puts them at risk of exploitation and abuse.
The centers are operated by the youth themselves which helps increase their self-confidence and organizational skills. Thanks to the positive support from adults and the Municipal authorities, the youth centers have become recognized institutions within their communities.
Improving children and youth’s life skills increases their awareness, knowledge and attitudes and helps them see different options and peer support to marginalized groups of children help reduce the risk of exploitation.
To create a more supportive and protective environment for children and youth, the Centers offer trainings and workshops on child trafficking, safe migration, child rights and violence against children to youngsters, parents and community members of Kuçova and Cerrik.
These centers’ significant achievements, their work effectiveness and the role they play are now highly valued by the local authorities and are considered valuable resources within their communities.
Kucova Youth Center Documentary Video
Child Protection Unit
Many children and young people in Albania continue to be vulnerable to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect and there is an urgent need for a professional formal system to be established that operates within a legal framework and is mandated to intervene when children are victims of violation of their right to a protective and safe environment.
Save the Children in Albania has contributed to the establishment of strengthening child protection systems and mechanisms that can support prevention and response to child violations by the establishment of Child Protection Unit in Kuçova and in Berat based within the existing structure of social services.
This units main mission is to identify, coordinate and manage multi-sectored response to children in need of protection.
Save the Children in Albania, Terre des Hommes and World vision now jointly support 15 CPUs around the country. In an effort to build professional capacity and provide tools to the CPUs Social Workers, Save the Children in Albania in cooperation with Terre de Hommes and World Vision have organized training programmes for professionals.
To better support the CPU in Kucova and Berat work, a multi-disciplinary group for the protection of children has been established in close cooperation with Kucova and Berat Municipality. Members of this group are representatives of social, financial aid and health services, police, education/schools, civil society and community representatives who will meet regularly to ensure services are provided to children in a coordinated manner.