ANYN and CRCA requires a National Youth Pact in Albania as a strategic enabler for resolving youth challenges
Tirana, December 7, 2018 – In the framework of the National Day of Youth in Albania, representatives of the government, deputies, civil society and youth gathered in the largest National Youth Forum organized for young people in Albania. The Forum discussed youth challenges in the country, youth migration, education and employment.
Its aims was to establish a dialogue which puts young people in the centre while provide practical recommendations that improve the addressing of these serious concerns by the government, institutions, civil society organizations and trade unions!
In this National Forum, the hostess Elisa Spiropali and the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Lindita Nikolla, built a debate with the young people present not only on the recent student protest of lowering tuition fees but also on the wide-ranging problematic of youth education in the country.
According to Gallup’s latest surveys about 79% of young people in the country want to leave Albania, an alarming figure that requires a response from the Albanian Government and all its institutions.
Meanwhile, youth unemployment in the country has reached disturbingly figures. About 26% of young people are unemployed and this situation requires immediate intervention from relevant institutions to create programs for promoting youth employment in Albania.
Throughout the discussions, the MPs, the functionaries of the institutions and the civil society representatives discussed the main problems for the youth in the country and addressed different platforms for their resolution.
The National Forum was preceded by a Fair of Youth Organizations in the country, which presented their work with representatives of the government, MPs, representatives of public institutions, young people from all over Albania, development agencies and representatives of various embassies in the country.
The forum awarded with the National Youth of the Year 2018, three of the 12 finalist youth competing in three categories of civil society. The winner of the “Advocacy and Protection of Human Rights” category was Kristi Qëndro, in the category of “Promoters of Youth Participation / Volunteering Participation” won the Kristian Kina and in the category “Creator of Models and Youth Services” won Florian Dedja.
While the National Forum was divided into 4 plenary sessions on topics: Being young in Albania and New Perspectives for Youth; Youth Migration, Brain Dain or Economic Benefit; Youth Education in Albania; Decent Youth Employment, as well as a National Pact for Young People in Albania.
The Forum was organized by the Albanian National Youth Network (ANYN), the Child Rights Centre in Albania (CRCA), the Albanian Coalition for Education (ACE), the National Student Alliance (AKS), in cooperation with the Parliamentary Committee on Labour, Social Affairs and Health, Child and Youth Policy HUB Albania, and with extraordinary support of GIZ Albania.
