Gender equality in Balkans

In May, forty five people from different countries went to Pogradec in Albania for a Youth Exchange: Gender Equality.

The hosting organization of this Youth Exchange was Act for Society Center from Tirana, Albania.

They invited the youth at the city of Pogradec on the very south of Albania next to the Ohrid lake. The Youth Exchange was founded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union.

The aim of this youth exchange was to understand the meaning of gender equality and to get to know the situations in other countries. The purpose was to share good experiences between countries and to avoid common mistakes related to this topic.

These young people spent seven days there. The program was full of interesting activities. Treasure hunt, theatre, workshops and energy activities. The first day participants were asked to introduce each other, their sending organizations and countries where they come from.

Welcome evening was organized during the first night so the participants could remember each others names more easily through interactive games.

To get to introduce the local culture and history, the hosting organization planned a game for the participants called Treasure Hunt that means that they had to discover the local traditions, famous people of the city and local monuments. By doing so the participants were obliged to communicate with the local population.

After the interesting city treasure hunt, the young participants gathered at the Intercultural night where everyone had to introduce their traditional dishes and beverages.

The third day was reserved for Theatre plays on Gender Issues. Through this play they had to introduce the typical problems of each country participant and to guess by the play which country was portrayed. The discussion was continued by describing the typical issues of each country regarding gender equality.

Next day was free to visit other cities and to explore more about Albanian culture.

Some people went to the border city of Korca or city of Ohrid or just stayed in Pogradec to enjoy the only sunny day of this event.

Coming to the end of this youth conference, participants had to prepare a flash mob. The flash mob was presented on the city square and the participants danced on traditional music from each country. The local people were looking at them. The point of the flash mob was to show to the locals the activities that youth

were involved during this week and also to encourage them to participate in similar exchange programs for young people around Europe.