Daring to dream bigger!

When it comes to education we all agree that the educational journey of a young person is a crucial phase providing the foundation for his/her future success and contribution to the society. Albania has made substantial progress in its education reforms, but challenges remain. A pressing concern is the education system’s ability to prepare youth for employment. 

A UNICEF-supported program, known globally for its social impact, is attracting the interest of the youth all over Albania. I was impressed to learn that, until now, 7,300 young persons have directly been engaged with UPSHIFT country-wide. Designed as an extracurricular program, it helps children and the youth coming from various backgrounds identify challenges in their communities and create entrepreneurial solutions to address them. Through a combination of training and mentorship, participants gain valuable transferable skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and leadership. 

With my team, I was heading to the North of Albania, Burrel, a region burdened by economic challenges and with high rates of emigration. We stopped at the youth community center of Burrel, renovated recently by the EU. At the arrival, I was warmly welcomed by a group of 60 young persons or better let’s say young dreamers, each of them with a sparkle of innovation in their eyes and with a hunger for change in their hearts. They are selected through an open call from the UPSHIFT team, and the school principals and represent different cities including Burrel, Dibra, Klosi, and Fushë-Bulqiza. 

 These young participants have one common denominator - they are all game-changers. With UNICEF colleagues, we volunteered to mentor a few groups. They were getting ready as the next day, was the big day; presentations in front of a tough jury of professionals. I noticed the eagerness to make their business pitch and win. 

I was accompanied by the Mayor of Mat, Agron Malaj, and the founder of the ICTSLab, Kushtrim Shala. Despite his young age, I found the Mayor, down–to–earth, passionate, and a dedicated man who knows how to best move Burrel into the future. Among other things, I could notice the pride he felt that this event was taking place in his city. 

 Thanks to their creative proposals, these young people will be making the lives of mayors much easier, I thought.  They are helping decision-makers with ideas and how to craft a vision for themselves and their communities. So much potential waiting to be unleashed and one can see it as they design the ideas into concrete proposals. 

 The competition day

 Ten teams, ten game changers, participated in the competition. Their young hearts are beating fast! For many of these young people, it was their first time stepping onto such a stage, their first opportunity to share their vision with a large audience and even speak in public. 

UPSHIFT generally does not have “Winners” or “Losers”. They focus on teams that are making progress and that are ready to move to the next (more challenging) phase of the program. They don’t focus on the results, they focus on the journey.   

UNICEF is known for bringing partners together for children and youth. I‘m happy we did it again. Representatives from the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Culture, Ledi Imeraj, the private sector, CREDINS Foundation, Elvana Hana, the entrepreneur “Digi Sapiens”, Driton Museli, along with UNICEF’s Education Specialist, Linda Bushati, and young journalist Florjan Gjini, all of them were the jury members that validated the potential and talents of Gen Z-ers.

Bravely, as they stood before the jury, tensions gave way to the excitement. With each emotional presentation, they let themselves go, they set out to pitch their innovative concepts to a panel of esteemed jury members. The jury listened attentively. They were impressed by the imagination and conviction of these young entrepreneurs. They nodded to each participant in the competition, as a sign of approval and gave encouraging smiles as they “validated” their dreams.

 Using the power of their imagination, within three days of intensive hard work, they created plans to transform their regions into energetic tourist destinations. The teams such as: “We Change”; “Formula”; “Dibra N’Art” and “Vizionaret” projected eco-tourism that celebrated the wonders of their landscapes, info points, summer camps, and community-based initiatives that highlight the unique traditions of this region so their local communities would benefit from new solutions. I was truly inspired!

Initiatives like UPSHIFT have made tremendous progress. It can be seen as an intersectoral partnership that bridges education and training with employment. This is the area where we want to deliver the results. Through UPSHIFT, we will continue to offer a unique opportunity for young people to interact, encourage each other, and pitch their ideas to experts, and influencers, and the most promising solutions receive seed funding. 

This article is part of the “QËNDRO” programme with the financial support of the Italian Government and is implemented by UNICEF Albania in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports, the State Minister for Youth and Children, the National Employment and Skills Agency, the Italian Embassy, and ICTSlab.