VISIT OF REPRESENTATIVES OF CARITAS FRANCE IN CARITAS ALBANIA

 

During the last week of April 2023, Caritas Albania welcomed two representatives of Secours Catholique, Caritas France, Mrs. Francesca Bombi, Director of the Department for Europe and Asia and Mrs. Haifa Al Labadi, Responsible for Programs in the Balkans.

The first visit on the agenda of the two representatives of Caritas France was the meeting with the President of Caritas Albania, His Excellency Monsignor Arjan Dodaj, the Director of Caritas Albania, Mrs. Juljana Reso, Deputy Director Mrs. Ariela Mitri as well as the heads of departments at Caritas Albanian.

The purpose of this visit was to introduce the representatives of Secourse Catholique, being new in Caritas France, to know the new leadership of Caritas Albania, as well as to visit the projects and realities of Caritas Albania on the field.

One of the main programs planned to be visited was YourJob, being a program partially financed by Caritas France. During this visit, some of the grants supported by the YourJob program were closely visited, such as: After School Kids, Metal Art, Lani leathercraft, Bright School.

Also, in the framework of partnerships and collaborations, a meeting was organized with the Director of the Shkodër labor office Mrs. Rozafa Zmijani who has been and continues to be available and very cooperative in terms of the YourJob program in Shkodër. From several months, Ms. Zmijani has made available an environment in the premises of Shkodra employment office, totally in function of YourJob program and the youth of Shkodra.

Also, meetings were held with the Local Coordinators of the YourJob program regarding the activities carried out and as well as the challenges encountered. The YourJob program is a very ambitious program that has had a positive impact on communities and especially on young people who are also the alpha of this program.

The challenge remains the emigration of young people who are increasingly inclined to leave Albania. According to INSTAT, about 50% or 177 thousand of those who left Albania belong to the age group of 15-29 years.