In cooperation with RisiAlbania the Association of Food and Wellbeing (SHUM), established in 2014 and dedicated to promoting local food tradition and increasing service quality in hotel and tourism sector is developing a market strategy to train and employ more students. Among SHUM services are: group vocational courses, on-the-job training personalized professional training, mediation and employment of our trainees and sector professionals, assistance in managing and marketing services different subjects within the scope of the association, assistance for the establishment of new start-ups of restaurants and hotels and training of relevant staff.  SHUM also organizes seminars and masterclass with Albanian and foreign chefs. For the high unemployment rates of…

Representatives of the Albanian Government, academia, businesses and civil society youth organisations met for the Swiss-funded project RisiAlbania Advisory Board. Following the project team’s presentations of planned activities for 2019, they shared ideas and provided valuable recommendations for creating job opportunities for young women and men in Albania through project interventions focused on private sector development, skills development and strengthening job mediation services. The second Advisory Board meeting was organized at the premises of the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS): the venue choice was important as it showcased the RisiAlbania supported initiative for a partnership between the FSS and the University of Lausanne in the framework of improving…

In today’s global economy, every country competes to attract foreign investors to make its economic sectors more competitive and innovative in order to create jobs for its people.  But how can a country attract investors over thousands alternatives out there? The answer is simple:  start with your value proposition! Building capacities of AIDA and Business Associations in Albania to develop a value proposition was the main goal of the workshop “How to prepare a value proposition for a specific industry”, organized by AITA – Albanian ICT Association and supported by RisiAlbania project. Participants learned the steps of creating a value proposition through concrete examples and case studies. The example of…

RisiAlbania in cooperation with Albanian Food Industry (AFI) organized in the beginning of December B2B event dedicated to MAPs Industry. At the event were present representatives of associations of MAP sector in Albania, regional agro-collectors, exporters and providers of drying technology and packaging. MAPs industry has the potential to improve more the performance in terms of volumes and value exported. The investments in post harvesting through drying facilities and packaging can play an important role in increasing the incomes for all the actors in the industry and employment of rural population. The main constraints identified from AFI’s research and other studies are related to harvesting and post-harvest practices, lack…

RisiAlbania Project was selected as one of the most innovative project in the Western Balkans among 21 projects studied in 2018 by the Women of the Balkans for new politics organization in the framework of the “Employability in the Balkans” project.  The innovative case practice of RisiAlbania was presented from project’s staff in a 2-day roundtable in Belgrade, Serbia during 27 & 28 November among 8 other best case practices from projects in the Western Balkans in the area of youth employment. The examples identified good practice/initiative examples contributing to youth employment and employability, especially  among young women. Based on the examples gathered from six societies of the Western Balkans, some…

How to ensure that young people living in tourist areas like Gjirokater, Saranda, Vlora, Korca and Shkodra benefit from tourism professional training courses usually offered only in the capital of the country, without adding extra costs like transportation and accommodation? Gladiola Dona from Hospitality and Tourism Academy (HAT) already has the answers. She partnered with RisiAlbania to develop a professional online platform aiming at getting better access to training especially for young people outside Tirana, reducing the costs by 75% and increasing their employability through improving in-demand skills in tourism. “The Academy has welcomed trainees from different cities who have undertaken professional courses but coming from distant cities…

Public and private sector tourism stakeholders gathered in Gjirokastra to take a concrete step for the establishment of the tourism information portal for the Gjirokastra Region. For the first time in Albania, representatives of local government, tour operators, businesses operating in the tourism sector, experts and representatives of the University of Gjirokastra selected the Management Board that will oversee the set up and operations of the tourism portal for the Gjirokastra qark. The Board includes representatives from the following clusters: Accommodation businesses Gastronomy and crafts Tour Operators and Tour Guides Rural tourism businesses Academia Municipality Digital marketing “We embraced this initiative, planning it already in our 2019 budget…

RisiAlbania is supporting the National Employment Service (NES) to develop a platform of collaboration with businesses and a methodology for regional labour market analysis. Through this intervention Risi aims at supporting NES and its labour offices to come with a consolidated, all-in-one platform equipped with tools and instruments to further improve the collaboration with businesses (employers). This will help NES to better understand and respond to the business community needs and will increase the number of relevant, available vacancies for jobseekers. An important part of this intervention is the creation of the methodology for regional labour market analysis. This is a very empowering tool that followed with respective…