Tirana, 3 March 2010 - 15 Roma women from Tirana become the latest students to graduate from vocational training programmes across the country. In all, 75 members of the Roma Community in Albania, men and women, have acquired valuable life skills such as tailoring, plumbing, construction and many more. This was made possible thanks to the UN Joint Programme Empowering the Vulnerable Communities of Albania.

Courses have been identified in collaboration with national employment offices based on the needs of the labour market and the profile of candidates. An awareness raising campaign on the importance of vocational training was carried out in three major regions of the country. Employment centre staff where also trained in minority issues to help them cater more effectively to the needs of the Roma community.

Hatixhe Sula, one of the participants in a tailoring course, highlighted: “I participated in the course along with other Roma women from my community”. Following an awareness raising campaign from the UN, “we chose a vocational course based on our own talents and interests that would also help us find a job in the future”.

“This is not the only benefit. Thanks to this project, my children and I were formally registered in the Municipality of Tirana which enabled us to receive social assistance from the government, and also enroll at the Vocational Training Center. This is of great benefit to my family and many other community members.

The lack of birth certificates and other identification documentation has excluded minority communities in Albania from realizing their rights. Ensuring civil registration is an integral part of poverty reduction, ensuring access to social and economic assistance, healthcare, education, employment opportunities and political representation.

Hatixhe concluded by commenting: “After successfully graduating from the course, we each received our own sowing machine along with a certificate of participation. I have already started to tailor very nice clothes, and this is of great benefit to my family. I now intend to establish a small business of my own thanks to my new skills.”

The Roma community in Albania faces many challenges that stem from: a lack of legal documentation, infrastructure and housing, employment opportunities and educational qualifications. Consequently they have been largely excluded from the benefits of recent economic growth, severely affecting their social and economic status. 80 percent of the Roma community lives below the poverty line. 55 percent of Roma children 15 years and under are illiterate. 72 percent of the Roma community does not have access to potable water. Casual and informal sectors are the main sources of livelihoods. Vocational training is helping members of the Roma community to obtain new skills, enhance their livelihoods and gain an important foot-hold in the employment market.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) have brought together their skills and expertise in the Joint Programme Empowering the Vulnerable Communities of Albania. This Programme, part of the “Delivering as One UN” in Albania is assisting vulnerable minorities at the local level in three regions of Albania: Tirana, Elbasan and Fier by facilitating their access to social services, promoting participatory planning, developing local infrastructure and working in partnership with government and civil society to implement the national Roma strategy.

Photo: two of the graduates from a vocational training course in tailoring with their certificates of participation.

For more information, please contact:

Nora Kushti
UN Communications Specialist
nora.kushti@undp.org