Middle East, North Africa and Europe
Albania ranks 69 out of 189 on the Human Development Index (HDI). CARE International’s work today in Albania focuses on conflict prevention and peace-building programs, supporting people’s access to rights, and working toward gender equality.
CARE International has been working in the Balkans since 1993, initially providing humanitarian aid for refugees and victims of war. Today, we work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania to help build sustainable peace and development in the region.
CARE International started working in Albania in 2013 to support partner organizations promoting gender equality. Today, our work in Albania is mainly through national partners with similar goals of achieving victories over widespread poverty.
Our work includes conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs, supporting people's livelihoods and access to rights, and working toward gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence. Marginalized communities, including Roma and women and girls, are at the heart of our mission.
Albania is one of four countries in the western Balkans where we are implementing our Young Men Initiative project. The project works with young men to build their knowledge about gender issues and support them to become champions for challenging attitudes that lead to gender-based violence and gender inequality. We also provide emergency assistance for refugees and migrants in the Balkans and for communities suffering from natural disasters and other crises.
Since 2020, CARE International has been responding to COVID-19 in the Balkans. Response efforts have included mobilizing national civil society organizations to inform communities in methods to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as providing equipment and support to healthcare institutions serving marginalized populations.
As the US is bracing for Inauguration day in the wake of shocking violence on January 6, the partners CARE works with in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and Serbia are celebrating some of the successes they have had running programs to counter violent extremism, especially with young men.
In one day, 18-year-old Rubin went from hanging out with his friends at high school, to learning mathematics at home under lockdown in Albania.
When young people are granted the opportunity to lead, they find ways to connect, to support, and to make changes—not just now, but for the future.
In FY2024, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, fighting poverty, and increasing social justice.
