A new Community Center was inaugurated today in Ura Vajgurore. The Center will provide social care and specialized services to children with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. The center is established in the context of the United Nations Joint Programme ‘Leave No One Behind’ (LNB), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented in partnership with the Government of Albania and four UN Agencies: UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women.

There are 651 persons with disabilities in Ura Vajgurore, of which 75 are children. About 30 children with disabilities aged 3 to 18 years old will receive rehabilitation and development therapies in the newly established center from 4 professional staff, consisting of a psychologist, a social worker, a speech therapist and a physiotherapist. The center is also equipped with classrooms for after school classes for disadvantaged children to catch up with peers and avoid dropping out of school.

The social care services to be provided comply with the principles guiding the decentralization and the social care reforms, and they are also in line with national policies and actions undertaken in support of children, women, youth, people with disabilities and Roma communities.

The Municipality of Ura Vajgurore is the key partner in this project. UNDP is supporting this Municipality and others in Albania to design new models of community-based social services for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, aiming to provide inclusion to the furthest left behind.

In the context of the UN Joint Programme the Municipality of Ura Vajgurore received supported to develop its Local Social Care Plan, as required by the Law on Social Care Services. Persons with disabilities in this municipality have been supported to claim their rights and receive services. A Youth Peer Education Programme supported by UNFPA is being implemented to establish a monitoring model for the implementation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Youth policies and strategies, with a focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized youth.

With support from UNICEF, social administrators and the staff in the social welfare unit in Ura Vajgurore have been assisted on the use of the Management of Information System (MIS) for social care services, according to a standardized training methodology approved by MHSP. 

Ura Vajgurore is one of the 18 municipalities that have benefitted from capacity building programmes and will now start populating the data on the use of social care services, including the data from the newly established community center.

The inauguration took place in the presence of the Minister of Health and Social Protection, H.E. Ms. Ogerta Manastirliu, the Ambassador of Switzerland in Albania, H.E. Mr. Adrian Maître, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Albania, H.E. Mr. Brian J. Williams, UNDP Resident Representative Limya Eltayeb, the Mayor of Ura Vajgurore, Ms. Juliana Memaj, and other local stakeholders and local partners.

‘Leave No One Behind (LNB)’ in Albania aims to bring about improvements in the social services’ system by increasing the participation of vulnerable people in public decision-making, contributing to the holistic vision of an inclusive Albania, which is in line with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Albania’s aspiration for EU accession.