On the 14th and 15th of September our team (Law and Internet Foundation) has carried out the first Twinning visit in Tirana, Albania under the E-PROTECT II project. Our team was accompanied by a representative from the Bulgarian Ombudsman Office. The first day of the visit was aimed at presenting the project itself and, particularly, the Individual Needs Assessment Methodology (IAM) to relevant national and local stakeholders. The Ombudsman’s representative had a dedicated session as well. The organisation of the visit was supported by our host organisation - Institute for Activism and Social Change and her Executive Director Mrs Erinda Bllaca. We would like to thank all of the participants for taking part and being really engaged throughout the whole day. We hope that we have provided them with a framework that they can use and implement at national level in order to better support child victims of crime. In order to facilitate the process, the methodology was translated in Albanian language.

The second day was dedicated to bilateral meetings between our team and the team of the National Agency on Child Rights (including the Chairperson) as well as with the Commissioner at Ombudsman of Albania. Our team has managed to obtain insights (with regard to the legal framework, practice and implementation) about the current state of play in Albania in terms of protection of child victims of crime and what are the major obstacles. Once the main gaps have been identified, the opportunities for practical implementation of the IAM were pinned point. Moreover, during the bilateral meeting the participants discussed potential opportunities for future cooperation in the field by outlining cross-cutting priorities and issues. We are really looking forward to the future mutual endeavours.

The project is implemented with the support of the JUST Programme of the European Commission under Grant Agreement № 878593.