New Opportunities in Kukës
The Municipality of Kukes (in the role of the Leading Partner) and Europartners Development (in the role of the Project Partner into the Project)
Beneficiaries:
Youth of Kukes – around 200 youth will directly benefit through the project implementation;
Abused women – around 50 abused women will participate on the project activities;
Kukes Municipality staff – 3 main directories will be involved in collaboration and implementation of the project;
Unemployment citizens of Kukes – at least 70 unemployment people will benefit by the project implementation.
09.2021 - 12.2023
Overall Objective
The decentralisation process in Albania gave to the new municipalities some new functions that were transferred from central to local government. Based on the law 139/2015 the functions under municipalities are in the field of:
Infrastructure and public services;
Social services;
Culture, sport and recreational services;
Environmental protection;
Agriculture, rural development, public forests and pastures, nature, and biodiversity;
Local economic development and public safety.
The new functions create a more central role of the municipalities towards creating the conditions/ infrastructure/environment/social structures to serving directly to the citizens.
Summary of the Project
The 2019 Performance Assessment Report “Municipalities in the Process of European Integration” details that slight progress was made in the fight against corruption, drug cultivation and trafficking, and money laundering. At the local level, good progress was marked in two out of three main measures in the fight against organised crime:
The Strategic Document on Public Security was drafted and approved by 42.62% of municipalities, or +16.4 p.p. compared to 2018, the structures of Community Councils (CC) were set up by 49.18% of municipalities, or +18.03 p.p. more municipalities, compared to 2018, while the establishment of the WG in the Fight Against Organised Crime was at the same level as in 2018, based on reported data. Remaining challenges include the establishment of WGs and Community Councils in all municipalities, improving the work quality and efficiency of these structures, and improving coordination of measures with state institutions and other actors at the local level.
The same report details that there has been an improvement in the performance of municipalities regarding the development of the local social plan – 63.9% of municipalities reported that they approved the local social plan by the decision of the City Council; the indicator shows an increase of +17.9 pp compared to 2018.
Activities
Project Management: Project management, monitoring and evaluation Reconstruction of “New Opportunities Centre”:
Draft the feasibility and architecture plan of the actual building which will be transformed on a skills and resource center;
Implement the reconstruction project.
Refurbishment of the new center Establish the functionality of the new center:
Develop the Strategy and Regulation of the center;
Draft the Manual for administrative staff of the center;
Develop a Communication Strategy for the promotion of the new center to the inhabitants of Kukes Launching the “Skills and Employment Program”:
Launch the call for application to take part on the soft skills program, professional short term courses in Tourism Guide and Management, IT, Handcrafts/Cooking, Barber; Organize trainings for youth and women on job market and entrepreneurship (15 targeted trainings during the project implementation);
Launch the start-up program (at least 3 start-up initiatives supported financially and mentored).
Actions towards social development:
Implement a creative awareness campaign to stop the drug usage “From youth – to youth” Provide psychological hands-on support to abused women.
Results
A. The municipality of Kukes will have a community-based which will provide public local services to youth and women;
B. Youth and women are able to follow professional short term courses and soft skills trainings;
C. Aware youngs and women against cannabis cultivation.
The expected impact of the action:
A. New opportunities for social- development in Kukes increased;
B. Increased professional capacities of youth and women;
C. Increased awareness of youngs and women through creative activities.
The following assumptions underlie the intervention of the action:
Youngs and women will actively use the community based new centre to increase their capacities. Their interest to have social-economic development will be in continuation. The municipality of Kukes will take the measures to promote the centre and keep maintaining it even after the project will be finished.
The following risks might undermine the implementation of the project:
Coronavirus pandemic situation can cause difficulties in relation with activities organisation; political instability with general election taking place in June 2021 might also affect the activity of local government administration and entire public life.
Mainstreaming of relevant cross-cutting issues In preparing this proposal, the municipality of Kukes and partner organisation EuroPartners Development based on the previous experience and implementation of the similar programmes, has developed, the intervention strategy is based on a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to sustainable local development, with specific focus on marginalised groups and strengthening aspects of skills, self-employment and social service delivery. Gender equality issues will be considered in all aspects of the project. On the other hand, the project will encourage the involvement of Roma community in the activities.
State how the action will improve the situation of the target groups and final beneficiaries and the technical and management capacities of target groups and/or any local co-applicants and affiliated entity(ies).
In the city of Kukës there are 5 primary schools and a high school (where there are about 1300 students) some of them are from the rural areas of Kukës. In the city there is also the dormitory for boys and girls who study in high school classes. Youth employment is a global phenomenon but in Albania it is a problem with high impact especially for small towns like Kukes.
The lack of manufacturing businesses, make the business activities in Kukës not more or less than Bar-Cafe, confectionery and bakery.
These businesses employ family staff and this does not change much the employment situation in Kukës but leaves unemployment at high levels.
There are not enough social institutions that can be in function of different groups for various services in Kukes. There is a regional hospital, maternity hospital and a health centre (polyclinic).
Kukes doesn’t have any Youth Center which will can serve as an activism centre of the youth. There is a multifunctional center for disabled children in Kukës.
