Many young and educated Albanians are leaving their country due to poor economic conditions, high unemployment rates, and limited opportunities for a good future. This trend has become so widespread that leaving Albania is now seen as the only viable option for many. Unfortunately, the situation is made worse by the fact that most of these emigrants have no plans to return home. This is not a new trend; for decades, the return migration rate has been quite low.  

The situation for young people in Albania at present is challenging. The younger generation is experiencing a prolonged period of societal transformation, stuck between the past and the future, and facing many different obstacles including administrative and mental barriers.   

Another main concern is related to labor market deficiencies. A significant concern is the ability of the education system to prepare youth for employment. Furthermore, the educational system is considered dysfunctional, and there is no link between education and convenient jobs in the labor market. That is why their future career represents one of their biggest concerns.  

Corruption is a huge factor that influences students, especially at high schools and universities, where their professors still ask for bribes to allow students to pass exams or get better marks and there is no effort being made by the government to clean up the universities and high schools from such corruptive practices.  

Albanian people are politically frustrated due to the neglect of their voices and the political system’s inability to represent them. As such a series of studies show political disinterest and apathy especially among Albanian youth.   

For many years, the young age of the population has been regarded by scholars as Albania’s greatest hope for rapid economic development. But that hope is fading!   

In the past five years Germany has attracted many young Albanians, particularly after it introduced the Skilled Immigration Act aiming to bring more highly qualified professionals to Germany to fill industry shortages.    

The EU has always been concerned about the lack of reform on fundamental rights in Albania, particularly stopping corruption and having a working and fair legal system. One topic of particular interest for ISHR Albania is the education of young Albanian people on fundamental human rights in order to become a force for social change. The energy and passion of young, dedicated people to make big changes in mentality and practice are necessary to stamp out old practices of violation of human rights.   

The fight against corruption is one of the highest policy priorities. Albania is advised to pursue this agenda with priority in the country’s European integration process. Another area of great interest for ISHR Albania is the promoting of awareness and education of the general public on the mechanisms of the fight against corruption. Even though prevention and punishment of corruption is an obligation that derives from international instruments to combat corruption such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the Criminal Convention of the Council of Europe against Corruption, and the Civil Convention of the Council of Europe against Corruption, the awareness and education of the general public constitutes on the other hand an important pillar from where concrete interventions and proposals in the field are generated not only on the basis of government initiatives, but NGO’s initiatives as well.   

Pursuing this area of interest, ISHR Albania has been a member organization of the local NGO anticorruption alliance for some years now.    

Albania is still one of the poorest countries in Europe although it upgraded from the state of an “undeveloped country” and made it into the list of “countries under development”. Fighting poverty and social inequalities through humanitarian aid remains to be an area of interest for ISHR Albania as it has always been in the past.