Albania

Albania lacks jobs, especially for young people. Helvetas promotes labor market development in the country. We also support municipalities throughout Albania in institutionalizing democratic processes and improving public services.

Capital

Tirana
Area

28,748 km²
Poverty rate*

1% of the population live under the poverty line of $1.90 per day
UN DEVELOPMENT INDEX*

Rank: 67 out of 193
Population

2,793,592
People supported per year

35,000
Thematic focus

Voice, Inclusion & Cohesion
Learning & Innovation
Education and Vocational Skills
Advocacy
Gender & Social Equity
Urban Engagement

* Source: UN Data

The Western Balkans are booming. Despite this economic growth, however, youth unemployment remains a widespread problem. Dim future prospects induce many young Albanians to seek work abroad, which only exacerbates the situation in the country because companies can’t find skilled workers.

Cross-border support

Helvetas supports cross-border labor market development in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia) with a view to creating jobs for young people in particular. We focus our efforts not only on stimulating the private sector, but also on boosting job-hunting services such as online employment portals. We also support various vocational training programs for young people.

TV infotainment shows for young people

Helvetas has been working in Albania since 2006. Over these years, Helvetas has sometimes resorted to innovative forms of job market development: in Albania and Kosovo, for example, we work with public and private stakeholders to help young people by providing them with the skills required and right career guidance for choosing a career and looking for a job.

The new Eastern European democracies are still quite fragile in a number of areas. Corruption is widespread, the legal systems are ineffectual, and authoritarian tendencies are increasingly resurgent in a number of countries. So Helvetas is working closely with local authorities to support institutional reforms and promote democracy. The object is to make public services more reliable and accessible, especially to sections of the population that are discriminated against.

Shoring up local authorities

As in the rest of the Western Balkans, corruption is widespread in Albania. Regardless of the recent reform in the judiciary, the legal systems are ineffectual and authoritarian/populist tendencies are increasingly resurgent. Helvetas is working to strengthen local authorities and thereby promote democracy. From 2001 to 2011, Helvetas was active in Albania with a project to promote decentralization and building up municipal structures. Helvetas resumed this involvement in 2014. It provides capacity building and hands-on assistance in a variety of local governance themes, including solid waste management, pre-school education, municipal performance capacity building of municipal councilors, women in politics, etc.

Visit the website of Helvetas Albania.