A new Community Centre was inaugurated in Pogradec, Albania. The Center will serve children and youth with disabilities, children from marginalised households, individuals as well as families in a situation of immediate need for help. The Center can host up to thirtychildren and sixteen youth with disabilities, twelve children from marginalised households who may be in need of post-school help, nine individuals/family members in need of a short-term shelter due to emergency situations.

The Center is constructed with assistance from UNDP Albania in the framework of “United Nations Support to Social Inclusion in Albania” Programme funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and implemented in partnership with the Government of Albania and United Nations Agencies in Albania.

A team of ten professionals including teachers, speech therapist, physiotherapist and social workers are providing services to thethirty children and sixteen youngsters with disabilities and six children from marginalised households currently attending the Center.

The Center is accessible for people with disabilities and creates an enabling environment for both individual development and socialisation opportunities among those benefitting from services provided at the centre.

Pogradec Municipality, a key partner in this undertaking, has started provision of services and will secure the Centre operation and maintenance. 

The Ambassador of Switzerland in Albania, Mr. Christoph Graf, during the inauguration said:I hope that this centre will serve as an example for others, an example of what is a meaningful support to people with disabilities and persons in vulnerable conditions.  Its renovated premises will be a place to provide quality services to dozens of children, youth and women in need.

Switzerland has been engaged to improve social inclusion and cohesion in Albania for many years, in close partnership with the Government and the UN family. For this Centre my Government contributed with 200’000 Euros. We will continue to stay engaged to help Albania that “No one is left behind”.

“We are working together with our main partner - the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth - and other ministries and the local governments to ensure that all women, men, girls and boys, especially those from marginalized and vulnerable groups, exercise their entitlements to equitable quality services, in line with human rights. Agenda 2030 and Sustainable development Goals has one key principle: To leave no one behind so we are very pleased to be working  with the Swiss Government and the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth to consolidate the safety net and to provide equal opportunities and services to those who are most in need. These interventions bring those groups up to speed, thus increase the prospects of reaching the SDGs in Albania” – said Brian Williams, UN Resident Representative in Albania addressing the event.

The community services offered by the Center, comply with the principles guiding the decentralization and the social care reforms and they are also in line with national policies and actions undertaken in support of children, women, youth, people with disabilities and Roma communities.

Groups facing multiple barriers to social inclusion in Albania are people living with HIVAIDS, women survivors of violence, victims of trafficking, children at risk, Roma and Egyptian communities and people with disabilities.  Despite the reforms undertaken and the economic growth of the country over the past decade, the Government has encountered a number of challenges when it comes to responding adequately to the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups.

To tackle the situation, with financial support from the Government of Switzerland, UN Agencies in Albania have joined forces to implement a multidimensional programme called “UN Support to Social Inclusion in Albania”. The programme comes as a direct support to the implementation of the Government’s new policies in the area of Social Inclusion and Social Protection.

Some data on the Municipality of Pogradec:

The municipality territory counts the city of Pogradec and 7 administrative units and a population of 90800 inhabitants.

1589 people are with disabilities; of which 444 are 0-18 years old, 352 are 18-25 years old, and 766 are 25+ years old.

1931 persons are labour invalids.

32 people with disabilities are from Roma community.

4924 households benefit the social assistance (ndihma ekonomike); of which 93 are from Roma community; of which 755 live in urban area. 

9 municipal employees work on disability-related issues.