Four years of hard work bears fruit

For many years in Albania neither child protection and development nor prevention of family poverty was prioritised within the social-protection system. Vulnerability to neglect and lack of basic services plagued many Albanians and in many cases economic assistance was the only support provided. Social-care services were very limited, ad-hoc in nature and provided largely by non-state agencies. For the public authorities, it took time to realize that providing these services in the most effective way possible was not a luxury – but an investment for the society. In 2012, UNICEF, with the help of Swiss Development Cooperation, embarked on a long and complex endeavor to support the Government of Albania in creating a system of social-care services to ensure that families at risk, persons with special needs, and minority groups would be supported when facing difficulties. In the belief that any effective social-protection system should ensure that both cash entitlements and social services are provided to those most in need, UNICEF Albania has offered technical expertise in developing a comprehensive plan to reform social-care services, and has mobilised resources to support the Government of Albania in the implementation of this reform.

In 2016, after four years of intensive work, the Albanian government approved the necessary laws to set out for the first time the foundations of a system of integrated social-care services. The new laws accomplish many of the legislative, administrative and financial reforms that UNICEF Albania has been working towards:

• the role of the social worker is clearly defined (one social worker should be hired for every 6,000-10,000 inhabitants);
• local government units are to develop local social-care plans based on a basket of services, with financial costs to be covered by the social fund;
• the roles and responsibilities of national and local authorities in planning, delivering and monitoring social-care services for Albanian families and children is clarified;
• existing residential-care services are to be transformed into more effective and efficient community-based services;
• the role of the social worker is redefined and professionalized with case management approaches to ensure that needs of Albanian families and children are effectively addressed;
• the increased involvement of local government and civil society in the planning and delivery of social services is promoted.

A better life for Esmeralda and her family

Esmeralda’s family is one of the many Roma families that have moved to the capital in search of a better life, but all the family members are unemployed and they do not know where to ask for help to find a job or enroll Esmeralda in school. Thanks to the new law’s empowerment of social workers through the introduction of case-management approaches, Esmeralda’s family was given the opportunity to access a series of integrated social services. As a result of this, Esmeralda was issued a birth certificate, allowing her to be enrolled in school; her father has made contact with a recycling firm and may start work very soon; and her sick mother can now be treated in hospital free of charge, like all other Albanian citizens.