Parents, teachers, medical staff and children participated in the recent World Vision Albania trainings on children's rights and child protection. New parenting and teaching techniques were also part of the trainings. The trainings targeted rural communities where child abuse is not only tolerated, but also widely accepted.

The trainings were hosted this summer in the rural communities of Vlora, Lezha, and Elbasan, approximately 80 - 180 kilometers outside the capital city, Tirana.

'This training was an eye-opening experience for us. I would like to learn more about child protection and parenting,' said one of the parents who attended the training.

Many parents at the training admitted that they considered beating to be one of the best ways to discipline their children, and some children stated that their parents were right to discipline them that way.


'There is a desperate need not only to raise awareness of child abuse in our communities but also to offer parents alternate ways of working with children,' says Blerta Petrela, World Vision Albania child protection manager.

Child labour is another form of child abuse common in rural Albania and addressed in the trainings. Children frequently do not attend middle school or high school because they are helping their parents earn a living, sometimes involving hard physical labour.

'I work in construction with my dad. I started to help him when I was in sixth grade,' says 13 years-old Marjana from Barbulloj i Ri village in Lezha, northern Albania.

In addition, many children confess they have experienced sexual abuse and physical and emotional violence. According to UNICEF, one in two of Albania's children experience physical violence at home and one in three at school. UNICEF also reports that more than 13 percent of children attending school experience sexual abuse at home and at school.

'World Vision is proactively addressing issues of child protection and well-being. It is going to take time to see change in behavior and thinking, but we hope these trainings will serve as a step in that direction,' says Ms Petrela.