OSCE Presence, Italian Government and Albanian Government launch new project on protecting children from trafficking and exploitation

The OSCE Presence in Albania and the Italian Embassy in Tirana, in co-operation with the National Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinator, Elona Gjebrea, and the Head of the State Agency on the Protection of Children’s Rights, Ina Verzivolli, on 3 March 2016, launched a project which aims to protect children from trafficking, exploitation and irregular migration.

The Project will build the capacity of child protection professionals at the local level and will facilitate vocational training courses and employment opportunities for young people. The Project aims to establish regular local-level co-ordination to manage the assistance towards child victims and potential victims of trafficking; reduce the vulnerability of children and young people to being trafficked and exploited, while also affording adequate protection and assistance to child victims of trafficking and exploitation.

The Project is a follow-up to the OSCE Presence’s previous work on addressing the phenomenon of child labour in Albania. The OSCE Presence supports central- and local-level authorities in adopting a multi-disciplinary and human-rights based approach to preventing human trafficking and protecting vulnerable persons, especially children.  

The initiative is funded by the Italian Government, through funds of the Italian Development Cooperation.