As part of their efforts to prevent youth recruitment into crime, the OSCE Secretariat and the OSCE Presence in Albania, in co-operation with the Albanian Ministry of Justice and its Crime Prevention Centre for Juveniles and Youth, launched a youth crime prevention awareness campaign on social media.
The "S'ka Shkurt / No Shortcuts" campaign launched in Tirana, Albania on 24 February responds to increased targeting and recruiting young people in crime by countering false narratives and promoting positive alternatives through social media.
The launch event brought together front-line practitioners from law enforcement, social services and civil society, policy makers, as well as young people themselves, to present the campaign and its video content, giving those featured the opportunity to express their key messages and lesson learned. The event also provided a platform for dialogue and exchange among young people, front-line practitioners and policymakers.
"'No shortcuts' is not only a hashtag, not only a slogan. It is a clear message for our youth that there are no shortcuts to success and that it is achieve only through dedication, work and integrity," said Besfort Lamallari, Minister of Justice of Albania.
"Today's launch marks an important step toward reshaping online narratives by empowering young people, amplifying their voices and providing credible, positive alternatives to crime", said Michel Tarran, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania.
The campaign showcases the realities and dangers of engaging in criminality, as social media is often used to lure young people by glamorizing crime, normalizing violence and selling false promises of power, belonging, quick money and luxury.
It features stories from people with real-life experience, who lived the realities of crime and chose a different life. It also leverages public figures such as Luiza Gega, Visjan Ukcenaj and Aulona Musta, showing that success comes through hard work, not shortcuts. In doing so, the campaign aims to offer positive role models and pathways alternative to crime.
The campaign was organized as part of the OSCE extrabudgetary project " Enhancing youth crime and drug use prevention through education on legality and awareness campaigns addressing threats of organized crime and corruption ", funded by Italy with additional support from Andorra, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland and Thailand.
