Projects

Boosting Employability via Social Mentoring in Albania

Project title: Boosting Employability via Social Mentoring in Albania
Duration of the project: July 2023 - March 2025
Donor: GIZ - The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
Objective: The personal and professional skills of hard-to-employ individuals (mentees) to find employment are strengthened through guidance, advice and feedback from social mentors.
Sub-Objective 1: Strengthen the capacities of GADC and select 10 mentors for social mentoring.
Sub-Objective 2: Unemployed people from marginalized groups have improved their employability.

“Social Mentoring” is a methodology that trains professional personnel (e.g., social workers and psychologists) to work with excluded persons from the labour market and to mentor them in a long-term process of finding and starting a job by strengthening their self-confidence and soft skills and helping them with overcoming administrative hurdles. The methodology has already proven to be successful in bringing disadvantaged persons into employment in North Macedonia, it has been piloted in the Western Balkan region, and now there is a need for systematic dissemination on a national level in the Western Balkans countries. In Albania this methodology is being implemented by Gender Alliance for Development Centre.

Key Achievements – Social Mentoring in Albania
The Social Mentoring Project, implemented by the Gender Alliance for Development Center (GADC) with support from GIZ, achieved significant impact in addressing long-term unemployment among vulnerable groups in Albania.
Two full mentoring cycles were implemented, each lasting six months.
10 certified social mentors were trained over a six-month period to provide tailored support and guidance.
45 individuals were mentored, including women survivors of gender-based violence, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQI+ community, single mothers, and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Mentees participated in vocational training in areas such as foreign languages, financial literacy, digital skills, artisan product development (e.g., soap and candle making), and technical courses for beauty services.
82% of the mentees secured employment or started their own small businesses as a result of the program.
The program contributed to increased self-confidence, professional development, and improved employability among participants.
Partnerships with public institutions such as the National Employment and Skills Agency (AKPA) and Tirana Municipality played a key role in linking social mentoring to existing employment services and programs.
The mentoring model has demonstrated potential for long-term integration into national employment strategies and social inclusion mechanisms.
Key Conferences and Activities
On June 7, 2024, GADC successfully held the closing event for Phase I of the project "Boosting Employability through Social Mentoring in Albania." The event brought together institutions, professionals, and project beneficiaries, highlighting results, success stories, and inter-institutional cooperation. Ten social mentors were officially certified, marking a key milestone in promoting inclusive employment in Albania. Click here to read more
Tirana, February 25, 2024 – GADC organized the roundtable “Empowerment through Social Mentoring – Pathways to Employment” to present the impact of the social mentoring model on improving employability for marginalized groups, explore government employment programs, and discuss ways to integrate mentoring into national employment strategies. Click here to read more