From 9 to 11 May 2022, the EYF visited funded projects in Albania, in the cities of Durres and Tirana. This was the first opportunity since pandemic restrictions were eased for the EYF to get to know the newly registered organisations in the country.

First to be visited was Youth Activities Centre’s project ‘The Power of Youth’. Here, young people who had been trained earlier in the project delivered a session in school to their peers on the subject of youth participation. They facilitated a reflection on what youth participation meant to them in their local context and identified key barriers to participation amongst a number of local institutions. The participants also shared the work they had been doing on the development of a local youth council, improving local library services, and advocating for a local youth centre to be built.

Secondly was a visit to Albania Committee of Medical Student’s project ‘Local Youth Empowerment – Volunteering for Social Change’. Here a final meeting of project participants was visited, where participants of the project’s training were coming back together to discuss the follow up actions they had taken part in and share their learning. Participants had been setting up local volunteering groups within their schools, where themselves and their peers would work on issues that were important to them. Topics included advocating against gender based violence, as well as carrying out service to their community, such as working voluntarily in retirement homes.

Finally, a number of meetings were held with key stakeholders in the Albanian youth sector, to grow the EYF’s understanding of the youth work landscape in the country. Meetings included the Ministry for Children and Youth, the National Youth Congress, Tirana European Youth Capital, and finally RYCO, who are a regional funder in the Western Balkans.