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CENTER ACT FOR SOCIETY
Non-Profit Organization · Organization
OUR WORK
We strive to do it all here at Center ACT for SOCIETY. Our Non-Profit Organization provides a dynamic work environment where deadlines are met and goals are not only met, but they are exceeded. We work on many exciting initiatives to improve the lives of others, and are very proud of the work we do. Learn about our exciting initiatives, and what we are working on every day in order to promote change.
ONGOING PROJECTS
YOUTH INC.
Future 4Youth
YOUNG MAN INITIATIVE
Young Man Initiative Movement Future4Youth aims to bring diverse voices of civil society, informal citizens groups, parents, teachers and other stakeholders around the same goal – to address and advocate for violence prevention, gender equality, life skills and health education in schools across the Balkans.
This requires an innovative and systematic approach and strong commitment from all people to stand together and work for positive and peaceful societies for young people in the Western Balkans. Beside the regional and national actions and stakeholders, we need community-based actors and a collective action to make sustainable changes in the future.
Young Men Initiative (YMI) is a regional platform of organizations, convened by CARE International Balkans. It started as a project in 2006 and it is being implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo and Albania. It builds on CARE´s comprehensive and programmatic efforts to prevent interpersonal and gender-based violence as well as to promote gender equality in the region. For over a decade, YMI has been targeting youth to build their knowledge and attitudes concerning gender equality, violence and healthy lifestyles and to decrease levels of all types of violence. Since the beginning, over 100 000 high-school students from 130 communities participated in Life Skills Education programmes that CARE implemented in cooperation with local partners. During the years, we have cooperated with variety of stakeholders and realized that there is an emerging need for embracing a joint approach toward this sensitive topic in the Balkans.
CARE and partners have introduced Program Y methodology at schools all around region and obtained accreditation in BiH, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo by relevant educational ministries, meaning that the Program Y methodology relies on violence and social problems prevention, gender equality, human rights, health education and promotion of personal and social growth as a key component of Life Skills Education in schools.
Students participating Program Y show positive changes (10-20% in average) in attitudes on gender-based violence and interpersonal violence among youth who had taken part in the program. Our regional research from June 2019 showed that 93% of people thinks that life skills education is necessary for young people and 90% of them is ready to support it. Respondents see prevention of violence and promotion of non-violent communication as the most important issues that need addressing or immediate focus of attention.
Our approach is based on addressing gender inequalities and promoting healthy lifestyles in such a way that enables boys and girls and young men and women to reach their full potential on their path towards adulthood. In societies where gender equality is most prevalent, the benefits to both men and women are seen through more equal relationships, better health outcomes for men and greater human rights for all citizens.
Adolescent and Youth, raising awareness and advocacy on GBV
Founded by UNFPA Albania, Sweden Sverige
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Youth and Adolescence is an ongoing project in collaboration with Albania Community Assist in the framework of the UN Joint Program “Ending Violence against Women” founded by Government of Sweden and implemented by UNDP, UN Women and UNFPA in partnership with Albanian Government”. This project has 2 main components. Young Men Initiative Scaling Up project builds upon CARE´s comprehensive and programmatic effort to fight interpersonal and gender based violence (GBV) as well as to improve gender equality in the region and address preventative issues related to youth extremism and violence. It was funded by UNFPA Albania to continue its work in Kruja Municipality in “Skenderbeu” High School. We are currently. The second component is the nationwide study which is being conducted in 12 cities in Albania entitled: "Gender differences in parenting styles and their impact on parent-child relationships". This research aims to analyze parenting styles, gender differences and their impact on parent-child relationships.
YES- Skills for Youth
YES-Skills for Youth is an ongoing project that started on March 2022. This project is funded by the European Union, through Partners Albania as part of the project "WB&T for EmploYouth" implemented by members of the Youth Hub Network. This project aims to break the circle of marginalization of unemployment and emigration thus increasing social capital, more specifically motivating the Youth of Kruja to change their social situation by working and living in Albania. In cooperation with the Municipality of Kruja, the Employment Office and the High School of Kruja 40 young people from 18 to 29 years old will be trained and their capacities will grow by enriching their life skills and informing with employment opportunities.
ARTIVIST STAFETË
“ARTIVIST STAFETË” is a project funded under the grant for Support to Active Citizenship by the European Commission and is funded by the European Union. The project is implemented locally by OMSA Albania and ACT for Society Center, in partnership with Dutch organizations MasterPeace and Stichting art.1.
This project aims to (i) improve the environment for active citizenship and civic participation by providing civil society sector organizations (CSOs) with tools to grant marginalized groups and side-lined voices in Albania with instruments to infiltrate the mainstream narrative and democratic dialogue at a local, Albanian and European level. Furthermore, the project seeks to stimulate activism through capacity building, and by creating a nation-wide network of civil society organizations advocating for increased democratic representation of minorities.
Therefore, the Artivist Stafetë Project relates to several priority sectors and themes; specifically: Democracy and government; Competitiveness and innovation; Education, employment and social policies; Cross border cooperation and regional cooperation, as well as specific themes from the call, particularly Local democracy, decision making, elections and political participation; Access to quality local public services and policies for groups most at risk of vulnerability, including children and youth in the post-Covid-19 context; Human Rights (women, children, LGBTIQ+, minorities, elderly, non-discrimination, freedoms etc.); Employment, support to social businesses, inclusive education, particularly if related to post; COVID19 crisis; Justice, integrity, fight against corruption; and Local development.
Open Balkan Cities
The youth of Tirana have had an important participatory role in the formulation of programs and the manifestation of the European vision of the youth by best sealing their desire and will for Albania in Europe. The most recent case is the inclusion of Tirana in the Network of European Youth Capitals as a result of the evaluation of the city of Tirana with the title "European Youth Capital for 2022". The impact of this award is expected to have a positive impact on the European Commission's reports on Albania in terms of social and employment policies.
Exactly, within TEYC, ACT for SOCIETY center presents the project "Open Balkan Cities".
This project aims to enable young people from different cities of the Western Balkans, debates between them and with experts in the field, to express their views on the benefits and costs of the idea of ​​an Open Balkans as a whole and for young people in particular.
The activities of this project aim at positioning the youth of the Western Balkans as one of the most valuable resources that the region has. By giving voice to young people, they can contribute to making the region an attractive and inclusive place for young people to live, work and realize their ambitions. This task takes on added value in the face of the mass exodus of young people from the country.
In line with EU objectives, the project encourages above all the active participation of young people - involvement in policy-making and activism to take the future into their own hands.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
My future is now.
Project “My Future is Now” aims to encourage democratic and civic participation of youngsters with lower education, who till now did not join any voting and community work and could be regarded as “eurosceptics’’. Through a bottom-up approach of “Engage, Connect and Empower'', the aim is to help them open up, understand the opportunities for social and community work and meet their peers in other EU countries.
The main activities will take place in 3 streams:
1. To engage and encourage youngsters to be involved in democratic and community building activities
2. To connect different youngsters with a variety of perceptions to create a broader and better understanding.
3. To empower youngsters via knowledge on processes and EU achievements and opening new networks and platforms to start projects and activities.
ACT on Hate
The “ACT on Hate” is an completed project that contributed to positive behavioral change among youth in peripheral and rural Tirana towards the fight against hate speech and the creation of counter-narratives. This project went in line with previous initiatives targeting youth, gender issues, and gender-based violence and combined lessons learned with a new approach in fighting hate speech.
It aimed to:
1. Increase capacities among youth in peripheral and rural Tirana to identify, analyze and report cases of hate speech and/or hate-induced violence, including those online.
2. Increase collaboration levels between youth-school administration-responsible institutions (The Commissioner Against Discrimination, The Ombudsman, AMA, Directories of Police, Public Defendants, etc).
ARTISTS CREATE TOGETHER
Founded by Netherlands Agency of Enterprise
ACT – Artists Create Together projects which started in October 2018 and ended in March 2021, financed by Netherlands Enterprise Agency aimed to increase the awareness of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals through art and music by empowering youngsters and marginalized groups. The projects included 4 building blocks: summits, music concerts, storytelling and wall of connections (murals). The focus of the project in Albania, was towards SDG nr4, Gender Equality and all the activities as well, aimed to promote gender equality in Albania.
Young 2 Young
“Young 2 Young” was a project financed by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO).
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The main objective of the project was to contribute to the process of reconciliation and intercultural dialogue in the Western Balkans through the capacity building of young people to prepare and perform theater performances. For this purpose we increased the awareness of young people from Albania and Serbia about the need of reconciliation and intercultural dialogue through a set of workshops as well as increasing mobility and youth exchange between the two countries and we promoted tolerance and cultural diversity through the playing of theater performances in 6 different cities in two countries. The project included 30 young people, aged 18-25 years old (15 per country) who attended workshops. 20 of them (10 per country) participated in performance preparation. Also included around 500 young people who attended the performance and around 5.000 young people by social networks.
Europe respects Human Rights
Raising awareness of people on the importance of independent institutions as human right defenders and the EU accession process is also a very important activity. We had 5 open / consultative meetings with representatives of independent institutions, local institutions, local CSOs, local media, students and citizens. We used for these meetings the assistance of local CSOs with which we have previously collaborated. The open /consultative meetings took place in Tirana, Elbasan and Shkodra. They had a wide participation and were used to support the local CSOs in the EU accession process and to raise awareness of people. The meetings gave information on the importance of the independent institutions in protection of fundamental rights as well as informed how the empowerment of such institutions can affect the road of Albania toward the European Union. We used the university's audiences in the three chosen cities to have such meetings and invited a large number of people. A panel with representatives of Independent institutions, local institutions, local NGO and media took place in each of these meetings, meanwhile the audience had students, but even other interested citizens. We aimed at the involvement of the young generation as the main force to improve the situation of understanding in our country.
“Making the Labour Market Working for Young People”
The purpose of this Risi Albania project was to contribute to the increase of employment opportunities for young women and men (15-29) in Albania. One way was to increase access to and improve information on labor market opportunities through the media, as a valuable resource for young people, in particular on education, careers and professions. A five-month monitoring process was conducted with the group of participants to monitor the quality and attractiveness of the programs.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Founded by CIJA
DIFFERENT & EQUAL
“Different and Equal” was a project founded by CIJA and implemented in “16 Shtatori” high school in Shijak. The focus of the project was to make young people understand the importance of equality between their peers and in their communities. The training was focused on NFE which made the youngsters get involved in daily activities. They learned more about different religions, interfaith dialogue and how to fight discrimination through art and culture.
YOUTH & GENDER, 2017
Financed by Raiffeisen Bank Albania
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The main goal of the project was to inspire the young generation of a problematic town to become open-minded and responsible citizens of the future. Three main objectives included:
1.Encouraging young girls to take control of their life and go after their dreams.
2.Educating young boys to be more supportive and open towards their mothers, sisters, girlfriends.
3.Introducing a healthy and proactive lifestyle to the young general, in order to help them understand that being a good and valuable citizen means respect and responsibility.
NO HATE MAN, 2017
Founded by UNFPA Albania
The campaign initiated by the youth for the youth, was part of the Global Movement – NO HATE SPEECH. This project, differently from The Global Movement, aimed to engage both girls and boys, in order to reduce the violent acts, besides avoiding NO HATE SPEECH. One of the main focuses was to encourage girls and boys to embrace their values, attitudes and behaviors, to teach them to challenge their peers to stop and prevent all acts of violence towards girls and women.
This pilot project was conducted in two high schools of Tirana, during two different time periods. These high schools were situated in sub-urban areas of Tirana: high school “Abdulla Keta” in Shkozë and high school “Sandër Prosi” in Sauk, considering the fact that these areas were more vulnerable to certain types of violence. The first activity was successfully accomplished in high school “Abdulla Keta” from 12th until 14th of October 2016. The second training was on 2nd, 3rd, 4thof November 2016 in high school “Sandër Prosi”. Following these training sessions, two open days were held in these specific areas. During these open presentations, the young students held the main roles, by acting as Peer to Peer Educators and passing the information and skills to other students in their schools and in their community.
DEMOCRACY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION
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DEMOKRACIA NË SYTË E MI, 2017
Financed by Raiffeisen Bank
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Our center successfully completed the project "DEMOCRACY IN MY EYES". This project brought a youth perception of democracy, expressed through art. In this project three awards were given for the categories: Essay, Painting and Video. Winners were announced Xhemal Kodragjini in the essay category, Nikol Topçiu in the painting category, and Fulvio Papadhopuli in the video category. We thank the young people for the variety of works, Raiffeisen Bank Albania for the continuous support it gives to youth projects, as well as Y-PEER, Albania and the National Youth Congress for the support in the realization of the project!
PACT
Founded by European Union
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The PACT project targeted the civil society actors from the four regions of Northern Albania—Diber, Kukes, Lezhe, and Shkoder. The specific objective was “to increase the engagement of CSOs in 15 municipalities of Northern Albania in good governance issues and fight against corruption by strengthening their capacity and funding their initiatives”. The project was funded by the European Union and implemented by ANTTARC in partnership with the Albanian Local Capacity Development Foundation (ALCDF) and Act for Society Center (AfS).
GENDER IN YOUTH WORK: PERSPECTIVES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITY, 2016
Founded by Erasmus +
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Aim of the project was to raise awareness of youth workers on gender equality aspects through the development of social partnership between organizations from civil society and influence youth associations to take action. It seeked to provide information, perspectives and resources for deepening and focusing the emphasis of youth and educational activities which address issues related to gender and their impact in youth work. As well it supported the creation of a stronger network of cooperation among the consortium and provided them with the possibility to increase their capacities and competencies in working with gender related issues, adopt gender strategies into their working agendas and act on local/national level on issues of abuse of gender issues, as human right issues.
TODAY IS THE DAY WE CHOOSE TO CHANGE, 2016
Founded by European Youth Foundation
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The main goal of the project was to inspire the young generation of a problematic town to become open-minded and responsible citizens of the future. Three main objectives included involved:
1.Encouraging young girls to take control of their life and go after their dreams.
2.Educating young boys to be more supportive and open towards their mothers, sisters, girlfriends.
3.Introducing a healthy and proactive lifestyle to the young general, in order to help them understand that being a good and valuable citizen means respect and responsibility.
POWER UP COMMUNITY
Founded by Raiffeisen INVEST.
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Power Up Community was a national contest where all the young people 16 to 25 had the opportunity to apply with their ideas on how they can change and help better the community. In this project more than 105 youngsters applied, but only 36 were selected. The participants introduced their projects to each other and then formed groups based on their ideas. Three groups were selected as winners and will implement their own projects in Belsh, Durres and Sukth.
POWER UP COMMUNITY 2
Founded by Raiffeisen INVEST
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ACT for SOCIETY Center supported by Raiffeisen Invest implemented the project "Power Up Community 2". The Power Up Community 2 project aimed to empower young people through a better contribution to their local communities. It was a format that encouraged young people from different areas of Albania and with great desire to contribute to solving the problems of society through their innovative ideas. Initially, participants were introduced to the project through its presentation and made applications with their own ideas. After selecting the best ideas, among a large number of applications, the selected participants were invited to the 2 day training that took place at the Tirana Youth Center on 6-7 June 2019.
PEACE BUILDING AND CULTURE
INTERFAITH DIALOGUE- WHAT YOUTH BELIEVE, 2017
Founded by European Youth Foundation.
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This project was funded and supported by European Youth Foundation, Council of Europe. Its aim was to provide the young students that were part of the project with the general concepts of religious harmony, the specific personal tools to maintain a balance between personal beliefs and different beliefs, as well as to encourage their self-reflection and engage them in a theater play to present the main issues concerning interfaith dialogue.
#InterfaithDialogue
#europeanyouthfoundation
#actforsociety
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
LIVING WITH GENDER EQUALITY
Founded by Raiffeisen Bank
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From 01/03/2018 to 30/05/2018 we implemented the `` Living with Gender Equality” project. LIVING WITH GENDER EQUALITY aimed to encourage youth reflection on the current gender equality situation in Albania. We organized a contest with 3 categories, essays and poetry, visual art, painting. Young people from all over Albania participated with their work which was focused on gender equality. At the end of the project we organized an event where all competitors participated and 3 winners for each category won a prize. It had a big impact on social media.
The YOUTH INC. project is a collaborative effort involving six partners from Hungary, Romania, Germany, Egypt, Albania, and Israel, comprising NGOs and youth-led organizations. Over a 24-month period, the project aims to enhance the quality, perception, and capacity of youth workers and young individuals through a focus on Learning for Diversity and Inclusion.
The key objectives include the development of a training module for 154 youth workers, introducing tools for social dialogue on the significance of diverse societies and communities. Additionally, a Project Based Learning (PBL) module will engage 540 young people aged 16-25, reinforcing critical thinking and exploring themes such as anti-racism, minorities, diversity, and inclusion. The PBL will incorporate methods like the Council, Community Inquiry, and Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry.
The project further seeks to support youth workers and groups in implementing three local actions in each of the six countries. These actions involve a mapping exercise on unknown local heroes, inviting youth groups to design memorials for them, virtually setting up selected designs using digital technology, and inaugurating virtual monuments through ceremonial events. Roundtables for policy dialogue among stakeholders will be initiated.
International meetings will provide opportunities for partners to share methods and materials, aiming to enhance their capacity in accessing and managing EU projects. The project emphasizes creating a network of youth workers and young people spanning Europe and Asia, fostering collaboration in Learning for Diversity and Inclusion. The objectives include ensuring the active contribution of all six partners, monitoring and evaluating project activities, crisis prevention and management, and facilitating insights for partners outside of Europe on managing EU-financed projects.
Ultimately, the project aims to establish a coherent and efficient intercontinental network, delivering high-quality outputs, results, and impacts. The partners will close and report the project according to the original plan and the expectations of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).