Between November and December 2025, the OSCE Secretariat, in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania and the civil society organization Institute for Activism and Social Change (IANS), delivered a series of specialized training sessions in Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan and Cërrik, Albania. These sessions brought together school security officers, school psychologists, social workers, youth leaders and community policing officers, all of whom engage daily with young people at risk.
The training sessions explored how violence manifests in different settings, from school grounds to online spaces, and how gender-based violence intersects with broader patterns of youth victimization and exploitation. Participants examined their respective roles as first-line practitioners and learned how stronger co-ordination between school staff, social services and law enforcement can improve prevention and response. A special focus was placed on early identification, referral pathways and case management, helping participants understand how to recognize warning signs, and act swiftly and effectively.
Using real-life case studies, role plays and interactive exercises, the sessions also strengthened communication and conflict-resolution skills, while introducing youth engagement and peer-education approaches that can help practitioners build trust with young people. A gender-sensitive and human rights-based lens ran throughout the programme, encouraging participants to address vulnerabilities that make young people - especially girls - susceptible to recruitment and exploitation.
In total, 190 frontline practitioners across Albania took part in the training series. Reflecting on the experience, a participant from Tirana emphasized the shift from reactive to preventive practice, noting that "we often focus on discipline after incidents, but real prevention requires listening before things explode".
Another school security officer highlighted the practical value of the training for daily work, explaining that "the training helped me better identify early warning signs among students and understand when and how to involve social services and municipal actors. Having clear referral pathways and knowing who to contact makes it easier to intervene early and prevent cases from escalating into violence". This underlined how the programme strengthened cross-sector co-operation - an essential element of a holistic response to youth violence, both offline and online.
Additionally, recognizing the importance of direct engagement with young people, IANS complemented the practitioner training with information sessions in six schools, reaching a total of 208 school students. These sessions reinforced prevention messages, raised awareness of peer and online violence, and strengthened students' understanding of help-seeking and protective mechanisms within the school environment.
The training series was part of the OSCE-wide multi-year 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.
