Today, USAID and Terre des hommes signed 10 memorandum agreements with local organizations to fund small, grassroots projects to prevent trafficking of children in Albania. Children in Albania continue to suffer from different forms of child labor (54,000 children, 7.7% of all children aged 5-17, work in street begging, collection of recycling material, in factories, agriculture and fisheries), sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, and forced and early marriage—all of which place children at risk and make them vulnerable to trafficking, internally and across borders. Guided by Terre des hommes’s experience, the grants awarded today will help build the capacities of community groups to proactively detect, refer, and address trafficking and other forms of exploitation of children in Albania.

USAID was part of a multi-donor effort, the Transnational Action against Child Trafficking (TACT) project (2003-2009), implemented by Terre des hommes, to establish Child Protection Units—an institutionalized system of protection for children at risk or victims of trafficking and other forms of exploitation—across Albania. Now, and through the “Together Against Child Trafficking” project, USAID and Terre des hommes aim to consolidate the CPUs and ensure more coordinated responses among them with education staff, health institutions, and civil society organizations, as well as bridge these institutions with vulnerable children and families from Roma and Egyptian communities.

Award Recipients:

• Voice of Roma (Zëri i Romëve) (Fier) will focus on the important role of education in prevention of child exploitation and trafficking.
• Roma Women Center for Development (Qëndra e Gruas Rome) (Fier) wants to make school a friendly and safe environment for victims or children at-risk trafficking through awareness activities with teachers, parents and children.
• Embroidery Association (Shoqata “Qëndistare”) (Korca) will conduct summer activities to help identify, integrate, and refer children at risk.
• Egyptian Brotherhood (Shoqata “Vllazeria Egjitiane”) (Korca) will produce a T.V. awareness campaign against child trafficking.
• National Association Education for Life (Shoqata Kombëtare Edukim për Jetën) (Tirana) will build the capacities of 10 young adults to be peer educators and provide them the opportunity to train other youths on trafficking prevention.
• Institute of Community Psychological Services (Instituti i Sherbimeve psikologjike komunitare) (Tirana) will work to increase the level of collaboration between schools, child protection workers, and community groups.
• Roma Voice (Zëri Rom, Romano Sezi ) (Elbasan) will work to raise awareness, sensitize, and introduce psychosocial activities with children and families on the importance of education, increase reporting and identification of families at risk in Elbasan.
• Animators Center “Orionin” (Qendra e animatorëve Orionin) (Elbasan) through sports and psychosocial and educational activities, will aim to integrate, socialize and refer at-risk children to school and other service providers.
• Association for the Assistance of Albanian Women (Shoqata “Ne Dobi të Gruas Shqiptarë”) (Durrës) will hold “Saturday School” to provide vulnerable children with life skills and improve their protection and self-esteem.
• Civil Society Development Centre CSDC (Qendra për Zhvillimin e Shoqërisë Civile) (Durrës) will work with vulnerable children and youth to raise their voice and address trafficking issues through a group of peer educators.

According to the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report of the U.S. Department of State, Albania remains a source country for trafficking in children and human trafficking occurs within Albania and across the borders to Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Western Europe. In 2013, UNICEF in Albania and Save the Children International in collaboration with ARSIS reported to have identified 2,527 children in street situation. Some girls are also reported to be subjected to sex trafficking or forced labor after arranged marriages, while little is known and reported about this phenomenon and very few specialized structures offer them comprehensive protective services.

According to research, Roma and Egyptian children face more significant social and economic marginalization than other groups in Albania. About 75% of the children involved in forced begging or petty work that are trafficked or are at-risk of being trafficked are reported to originate from the Roma community. Parents are often not in a position to properly protect their children and the State provides almost no alternative support services. Economic factors, social marginalization, and dropping out of school are considered some of the main risk factors for child abuse and trafficking and therefore require long-term approach and efforts to be stepped up in order to durably affect changes.