Persons with Disabilities Gain Access to Vocational Training Facilities

A group of people participate in a discussion in a classroom
U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu and Minister of Social Welfare and Youth Blendi Klosi, met with disabled students who now have access to vocational training courses.
USAID/Albania

For Immediate Release

Friday, May 13, 2016

Today, U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu and Minister of Social Welfare and Youth Blendi Klosi, participated in a ceremony to mark the completion of work carried out at Vlora’s Regional Directorate of Public Professional Training to make it accessible for persons with disabilities. Now persons with disabilities who want to take professional courses and enter the job market can attend courses independently and without physical barriers.

In remarks delivered at the event, Ambassador Lu thanked the Regional Directorate for its support for the project and urged other institutions to adapt facilities to make them accessible and welcoming to persons with disabilities. “Persons with disabilities do not want pity or charity. They want opportunity, the opportunity to study and prepare to be fully integrated members of society.”

According to the 2011 census in Albania, 137,435 people over the age of 15 are living with disabilities. Many of these people are capable of learning a skill that could lead to a job or self-employment. State-run Professional Training Centers (PTCs) offer courses that could be adapted for persons with disabilities in subjects for which there is demand in the labor market.

This project, along with a similar initiative at Vocational School Number 1 in Tirana was completed by USAID, through Assist Impact and ADRF, to improve the physical infrastructure of the centers and provide needed training opportunities for persons with disabilities.

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About the Project Implementers:

Assist Impact is a private, not-for-profit organization committed to promoting a prosperous, just, and inclusive society. Assist Impact aims to build and sustain the capacity of individuals, groups, communities, institutions and organizations in the not-for-profit, public and private sector to contribute to a prosperous and inclusive society that plays a constructive role in the world.

The Albanian Disability Rights Foundation (ADRF) is currently implementing a USAID-funded project to enable the employment of people with disabilities in Tirana, Shkoder, Elbasan, and Vlore.