![Vasilika Vjero (center), head of Albania’s General Directorate of Taxation, participates in an information exchange with counterparts in Ireland. Vasilika Vjero (center), head of Albania’s General Directorate of Taxation, participates in an information exchange with counterparts in Ireland.](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/GDT_Albania.jpg?itok=iqpBl44p)
The 2008 financial crisis hit Albania in unexpected ways. Although the country was largely unaffected on the surface, the crisis revealed critical cracks and weaknesses in the banking and financial system.
![Social Business Opens Doors and Opportunities for Women in Rural Albania Women surround table with sewing cloth and equipment](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/14502846_902069853258370_1561774741293583558_n_1.jpg?itok=4kNPhg3B)
CityTex, a garment factory established using the Yunus social business model, has helped more than 50 rural women in Cerrik in central Albania find employment and sense of community.
![Ervehe Tushi Ervehe Tushi](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/Ervehe%20Tushe2.jpg?itok=-WFOy9xh)
Thanks to an intervention by the USAID-supported partner, the Albanian Disability Rights Foundation (ADRF), Veko writes, produces and broadcasts the interviews and life stories of Albanians, gives her listeners the daily news, catches their interest and imagination with features, announcements, and reviews of events. This is a very special lady who happens to be blind – a childhood accident.
![Professor Leads Change in Albania’s Legal Education Field Photo collage of professor](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/USAID_Clinical%20Education.png?itok=AyaazfK-)
Alban Koçi was teaching a classroom-based legal clinic course for years at the University of Tirana’s Law Faculty, and yet he says his students time and again expressed the desire to improve their skills and knowledge with hands-on experience—a desire he too shared. In fact, legal education in Albania is characterized as based on overly theoretical curricula and rote learning. As a result, law school graduates come out of schools and join the legal profession with little or no practical skills.
![A hands-on lesson on machinery repair A hands-on lesson on machinery repair](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/10314010_837119119650123_5554187769134721421_n.jpg?itok=1ApJymCy)
Albania's textile and garment sector accounts for 45 percent of total exports and provides employment to a large number of workers. The government is now looking to the industry to increase employment opportunities, particularly for youth and women.
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