Participatory Decision Making through ‘Informal education’ approach (ALTRN0004)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Action plan – Tirana, Albania, 2021 – 2023
Inception Report: Not available
Commitment Start: Dec 2021
Commitment End: Dec 2022
Institutions involved:
- Municipality of Tirana
- Municipality of Tirana
Primary Policy Area:
Primary Sector:
OGP Value:
- Access to information
- Civic Participation
Description
Commitment ID
ALTRN0004
Commitment Title
Participatory Decision Making through ‘Informal education’ approach
Problem
"The Municipality of Tirana through its Directorate of Social Inclusion and Protection implements various social protection programs to serve its citizens in a vulnerable situation. During 2020 there have been provided services to communities through 6 local social centers, fully administered by the Municipality of Tirana. Now on, with the remodeling of the social centers into ‘multidisciplinary community centers, the expectancies of what these centers should offer are raised, among else they should: promote, perform, facilitate and coordinate services and develop social welfare for people in need without any discrimination; ensure equal access to social services and social benefits; empower of young people, women, the elderly and other target groups in order to ensure their creative participation in community development; promote the development of children and young people through education, entertainment, vocational training and for life. However, due to the diversity of problematics that the vulnerable groups have, there is apathy on the teaching/learning process and capacities that these centers can (and are able to) offer and also a lack of interest and information from the population side to understand (be aware) how & why to obtain these services, and it might also imply that there is a general perception of the lack of transparency from the local service delivery unit on the variety of the services offered."
However, due to the diversity of problematics that the vulnerable groups have, there is apathy on the teaching/learning process and capacities that these centers can (and are able to) offer and also a lack of interest and information from the population side to understand (be aware) how& why to obtain these services, and it might also imply that there is a general perception of the lack of transparency from the local service delivery unit on the variety of the services offered.
Status quo
In fact, in addition to the existing services that the Centers used to offer, with their reorganization process, additional multifunctional services have been offered to respond to the needs of the community. We can name the a) after-school classes for children of families in financial assistance, b) organization of extracurricular courses (painting, music, sports, etc), c) provision of psychosocial services in the household, etc. However, based on the statistics of the Directorate of Social Protection and Inclusion, the proportion of the services taken from these centers remains low. Hence, during 2020 only a minority of people visiting the center reached out for counseling and/or education purposes. Concluding, it is observed that there is a lack of interest in informal educational activities from these communities. The lack of interest in these activities reflect the 1) lack of awareness on the beneficiary aspects in obtaining the respective services and 2) the high and diverse living problematics that this category of population experience.
Action
The commitment involves informal education sessions in each of the 6 Multidisciplinary Centers, not just to put into the spotlight the core functions of the Centers but also to inform users through thematic discussions which are closely related to their physical and mental/psychological wellbeing. We will further categorize the thematic (as below mentioned) in close collaboration with the centers themselves but also with key stakeholders (civil society organizations operating in the field of the marginalized groups).
Thematic 1. Medical care. We expect to perform informal training sessions through Community Centers so to raise information and awareness on women and children's health and wellbeing.
Thematic 2. Education. A novelty in the services provided in the centers will be the provision of classes against adult illiteracy, where Roma and Egyptian residents will be the main beneficiary. We will promote information of scholarships opportunities for enrollment and attendance of vocational secondary education for vulnerable groups as a means of alleviating poverty and being integrated into the job market.Thematic 3. Employment The employment opportunities will be educated/nurtured through two main informing sessions: 1) by referring people in need to the Directorate of Employment Promotion to be included in the in private businesses offers and 2) informing about the opening of the grants of the Directorate of Employment Promotion.
How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?
We expect from this commitment to contribute to the transformation of the mentality of what a community center can offer (besides a shelter of the free meals), by giving diverse and holistic information about all the services offered, how can they benefit; being transparent of procedures. We seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public services, provide input and make contributions that lead to more responsive, innovative and effective governance. We aim that the target group shows a higher interest in the Multidisciplinary Community Centers in the future, entailing the 3 respective thematic.
We aim also to raise awareness amongst this group on topics considered 'less emergent' such as literacy, informal education, health, but which has definitively an immense impact on the population wellbeing and social integration. Information and awareness sessions through Informal education will have a direct long term impact on:
- Improved literacy
- Higher Vaccination of any child identified as unvaccinated and women;
- Higher Medical visits to health institutions for women and children;
- Higher registration in schools and kindergartens;
- Higher Employment opportunities of youngster and adults;
- Counseling and psychological support;
- Stronger families and community ties;
What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has issued a national strategy on social protection. The National Strategy of Social Protection 2015–2020 aimed at reforming social protection
policies through the transformation of the social assistance scheme into an active scheme enabling social re-integration; intervention and
ensuring re-integration of children in families and community. One of the priorities is to ensure linkages and better integration between
active employment policies and social inclusion and protection policies, with a particular focus on local decentralization and development of integrated social and community care services.
Meanwhile, in the strategy of the Municipality of Tirana, Social protection and social inclusion are considered as an important and growing domain.
Primary Policy Area
Inclusion, Right to Information
Primary Sector
Cross-sectoral, Education
What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?
| Access to information | Through this commitment we will provide information to vulnerable groups, to benefit from the variety of social services which are not correctly accessed.Through this commitment we will provide information to vulnerable groups, to benefit from the variety of social services which are not correctly accessed. |
| Civic Participation | Visitors of the centers will be invited in the meetings of the working group to propose specific thematic, in order to ensure transparency and participation in decision makings. After successful implementation of this commitment, in the round 2 we plan to develop new thematic that reach out other vulnerable groups.Visitors of the centers will be invited in the meetings of the working group to propose specific thematic, in order to ensure transparency and participation in decision makings. After successful implementation of this commitment, in the round 2 we plan to develop new thematic that reach out other vulnerable groups. |