Three Albanian associations (“Independent Forum of Woman”, “Family Planning”, “Refleksione”) and COSPE have made possible the creation of the Women Centre “Light Steps” in Shkodra during April 2001, financed by the Italian Cooperation and UNOPS Program.The Albanian organisations and COSPE furnished the centre with all necessary instruments accumulated from their long experience in relation with the focus of their work. Each of these organisations gave to this centre through their representative persons the profile, the professional part, and the particularity that characterise them.
At beginning, the Woman Centre creates the Directive Committee composed from the representative persons from the three Albanians partner associations and the coordinator, representative of COSPE.
This committee had the function of the direction and the political coordination of the centre, but also the technical support.
This process was successfully organized leaving as heredity to the centre of today the network and strong institutional relations with the local agents that act on Shkodra territory.
Actually, the Women Centre is an non profit organization with 25 members that work together for the same goal in an atmosphere of collaboration and responsibilities in commune and with a Directive Committee composed from 9 persons and the president, that two of them are representatives of the neighbourhoods, where the centre operates.
The direct participation of the beneficiary on the decision process and the realisation of their figure as community leader was a goal that was also realised carefully and successfully.
At the same time with the attention for the process for the centre creation, as an active subject on the territory the directive committee and the manager-women take a lot of initiatives related to the reinforcement and institutional relation-ships. As result of this work and of this policy, borne the woman’s office in the Municipality and was compiled the social services map for the women of the Shkodra’s city.
The above collaboration has continued along the life of the centre and still continues influencing positively for the activities to improve the conditions and social services on the Shkodra’s city.
The Woman Centre has done and is doing a lot of activities and through them has helped to diminish the phenomena of the trafficking with:
▪ A antiviolence service where are offered the social and legal service from a social operator and lawyer (this service is related with the information office and the other services for women in the city)
▪ Reproductive health service where are offered emotional support and legal service from a social operator and a lawyer
▪ Daily kindergarten 07.30-13.30, for children 3-6 years old, (a part of the children are gratis because they are from mothers alone or not supported, in danger to be victims of domestic violence.)
▪ Professional courses: computer, Italian, English, French language, cooking, dance, tailor and hairdressing courses for young girls and women
▪ Daily animation activities 17.00-19.00, for children 6-14 years.
▪ An action-research about the women situation in the city of Shkodra
▪ Research about the Welfare System of the city of Shkodra and the map of the social services in the city of Shkodra offered from the associations and the local government
▪ Information office (where the women can learn what kind of services are offered for that what they need)
▪ Trainings with the Health Centres operators of the city about the reproductive health of the women and children health
▪ Trainings with women and girls from the peripheral areas of the city about the reproductive health of the women and children health
▪ Meetings with women and girls about the social problems as the domestic violence,
trafficking, family planning, Women Rights ect.
Trainings with the local associations about the management of the NGO (projecting, found raising ect), Convention for the Elimination of all the Forms of Discrimination, the Gender Problems and other themes requested from the associations
All the activities of the centre are financed from Italian Cooperation (Regione Emilia Romagna, Comune di Forli’, Provincia di Forli ‘, Regione Toscana, COSPE etj) with the objective to empower the role of the women in the society and the elimination of all the discrimination forms against women and children. The projects and the activities are integrated with each other creating so the services for the women, having as target group all the women and children and particularly who is in danger to be victim of violence and trafficking.
Our service are:
-ANTIVIOLENCE SERVICE for Women and Children victims of Domestic Violence
-SERVICE OF RIGHTS AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
-LUDOTEC and KINDERGARDEN SERVICE
-SOCIAL-ECONOMIC SERVICES
-TRAINING AND INFORMATION SERVICE
-LIBRARY SERVICE
-SHELTER