ARTICLES: Empowering Roma youth in Albania

Tirana, Albania, 13 August 2012: In Albania – the country with the highest percentage of youth in Southeast Europe – Roma youth face heavy discrimination. Their exclusion from sports competitions, school events, vocational training and community life often has a negative impact on their self-confidence.

As they overcame the cultural barriers in their own Roma and Egyptian communities, four Albanians from Tirana, Elbasan, Fier and Durrës enlisted as UN Volunteers to share their experience directly with youth from nearly 2,000 Roma and Egyptian families, thus helping them exercise their rights to civil registration, child protection, health, education, vocational training and employment.

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