A Partnership for Empowerment

Every day, Rina Pano,* a mother of two, would be up at dawn – she had to prepare and serve coffee to her in-laws and then do all household chores as well as cook for everyone in the family. She was the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to bed. This was her routine – day in, day out – not much different, in fact, from that of many other women. However, on top of this, Rina had also suffered domestic abuse in the hands of her husband for six years. She reported him twice to the authorities but because of pressure from the family, including from her in-laws, she ended up forgiving him until a third violent incident became the last straw.

Now she is in the process of divorce and is living alone with her two children. She still gets up very early, but now she gets up to go to work and provides for her family. She works as an assistant cook, a job she found thanks to the support of the non-profit organization Different & Equal and the National Employment and Skills Agency.

Economic empowerment forms the core of the work of Different & Equal. It consists of, among others, providing guidance, counseling, and practical skills for employment and career development to women and girls survivors of domestic and gender-based violence.

“The organization helped me register with the Employment Office, guided me through the interview process and financially supported my apprenticeship,” says Rina Pano, who now is employed full-time in the same business where she completed her apprenticeship.

“Women are trained individually and in groups; we give advice and provide them with information on the labor market. In these trainings they learn practical skills, including how to write a CV and an expression of interest letter, and how to prepare for a job interview,” said Stela Tanellari, Deputy Director and Reintegration Program Manager at Different & Equal.

In addition to psychological counseling and legal assistance free of charge, Different & Equal also provides professional advice about careers and education, assisting survivors in organizing their thoughts, interests, and skills.

Different & Equal is supported by UN Women through the UN Joint Program on Ending Violence against Women and Girls in Albania, financed by the Government of Sweden.

A strong multi-dimensional partnership

Different & Equal’s collaboration with the National Employment and Skills Agency spans two decades, starting from the time the organization first launched its reintegration program for victims of trafficking.

In Albania, the National Employment and Skills Agency has 36 local Employment Offices, whose primary function is to support vulnerable jobseekers to find employment. These offices have established links with more than 14,000 small, medium and large businesses of various types.

Stela Tanellari highlights the importance of maintaining a strong collaboration with the Employment Offices. "They have shown great understanding; sometimes, because of the traumas they have experienced and their difficulties as single mothers and survivors of violence, these women are sometimes less able to maintain constancy at work. They may sometimes quit after two or three days, but the Employment Office is consistently prepared to secure new job opportunities for them. In fact, there have been cases of women changing three different jobs before settling down."

Registration as a jobseeker with the Employment Office unlocks various services for single mothers like Rina. These services include subsidies for rent, childcare, and transport for their children.

Julinda Gjonja, Director of the Tirana Office of the Employment and Skills Agency says that they also provide vocational training, incentive programs, and self-employment opportunities. They notify Different & Equal of any new vocational trainings to be held, most of which are free of charge and last from three to six months.

“Self-employment is a very good way to start for survivors. We provide them with a starting capital of around 5,000 USD, as well as with training and other support to draft a business plan and the mentoring continues for a year,” Julinda Gjonja notes.

Like Rina Pano, numerous women have the chance to begin with an apprenticeship. “We collaborate with Employment Offices, which facilitate establishing links with businesses that are both sustainable and reputable in the market, for the purpose of providing opportunities to women survivors of violence. Additionally, we financially support these apprenticeships, which typically lasts between three and six months,” Stela Tanellari pointed out.

Collaboration between the organization and Employment Offices also spans various other aspects. Different & Equal conducted training for Employment Office staff on ways how to treat cases of jobseekers who have experienced violence with understanding and sensitivity, as well as on ethical principles to be applied with a view to diminishing stigma and discrimination.

"We raised their awareness on the issue and informed them about the services our organization provides to survivors so that if they come across cases of domestic or gender-based violence in their daily work, they refer them to us," Stela Tanellari explains.

The Director of the Tirana Employment Office notes the significant role played by the organization in addressing social problems. "The organization provides invaluable help because when these women register as jobseekers their social problems are already taken care of by the staff of Different & Equal.”

She emphasizes that one of the primary challenges in offering sustainable employment to these women is the absence of after-school programs for their children. "Individuals from vulnerable groups have expressed this concern and we are unable to offer them work when we cannot provide a secure environment for their children while they are working. Actually, this is a problem for all of us, not just single mothers facing various social issues. It concerns everyone."

In collaboration with the municipalities of Tirana and Shkodër (a town in northern Albania), Different & Equal has set up two after-school programs for children of survivors of violence. “Two dedicated teachers attend to the children, assist with homework, organize activities, and provide food. The improvement in consistency at work was immediately evident. However, two centers are clearly far from sufficient. This initiative should be replicated in other regions as well," notes Stela Tanellari, Deputy Director of Different & Equal.

“I'm currently in the middle of a full-time apprenticeship as an assistant cook in a restaurant. I am happy with the work I do and with the workplace environment. I hope to be able to continue working there after the apprenticeship. My mind is at ease about childcare for my children, since they attend after-school programs after kindergarten and school and I pick them up when I finish work,” says another woman survivor of violence who received support from Different & Equal.

*Name was changed to protect the identity of the survivor.