Year: <span>2019</span>

Institute of Human Rights in North Macedonia and CCIS, organized a Joint training in Struga with women entrepreneurs from Elbasan and Polog  about legal framework on Labor and the Rights and Obligations of the Employer and the Employee; Contents of the employment contract, with legal experts from Albania and North Macedonia.

This service is becoming available on regular base for women target group part of the project  in both site of the cross border area in the framework of the project ” Microenterprise development project for women in the cross-border area” supported by IPA Cross-Border Funds of Northern Macedonia and Albania for 2014-2015 and leader from CCM.

Women entrepreneurship is at a similar level of development in the targeted cross-border region – Polog and Elbasan. Every successful start, diversification or developments of the business requires following numerous legislative procedures whose steps can become burden or uncertainty to the entrepreneur. In that regard the legislative advice can have significant contribution to the performance of the business, its legal certainty and protection since businesses have to deal with ever-increasing legislation and regulatory requirements. The legal aspects of doing business affect not only the women entrepreneurs but as well their customers, employees, suppliers, banks etc. and can potentially cover all different topic for two of the target groups.

Saturday, 19 -20 October 2019 – Hotel DRIM- Struga

Center for Comparative and International Studies(CCIS) and Mesdheu Center, in cooperation with the Municipality of Elbasan and under the special care of the Mayor of Elbasan Mr. Gledian Llatja, in the framework of the project ” Microenterprise development project for women in the cross-border area” supported by IPA Cross-Border Funds of Northern Macedonia and Albania for 2014-2015, has organized a policy discussion on local and regional policies to encourage women in the region of Elbasan to create new ventures and opportunities to support them financially through financial schemes. ( here agenda and invitation)

Mr. Llatja expressed the willingness of the Elbasan Municipality to foster female entrepreneurship, and the municipality is taking concrete steps, starting with gender budgeting.

Part of the discussion was also the member of the Parliament Msr. Evis Kushi, she pointed out Business opportunities for women, Gender equality in business, Advantages of cross border business ideas.

The policy discussion brought together 45 women to discuss the findings and recommendations of the feasibility study conducted in both regions, and to open all possible issue around legislation, policies and by-laws as well as subsidies and measures undertaken to support the micro-enterprise development of women.

Active participation and discussion among participants was encouraged, especially in terms of exchanging personal experiences related to actual policies in improving the climate to do business in Albania

Invitation Policy discussion in Elbasan 16.10.2019. (Click Here)

Agenda Policy discussion in Elbasan 16.10.2019 (Click Here)

One of the most important steps in developing a venture is the business plan. This allows the entrepreneur to clarify and detail the business idea, also to think about and anticipate the problems that can be encountered during the implementation of this plan. During this session, it will be explained how to determine all the actions it will take to realize the start of operation, the time span of each action, the costs for each stage of development. This session devotes a particular place and importance to the presentation of the business plan for getting the necessary funding, both for founding and circulating capital, to the calculation of cash flows, determining the return on investment and assessing the expected profit. This topic is one of the main pillars of the subject in discussion.

Often companies do not allow enough time for planning and implementing the restructure. A restructuring process involves details concerning vendors and consumers, stockholders and financial relationships, employees and inventory, quality control and environmental impact, equipment and technology, and management and marketing. All of these areas need careful thought and consideration to determine how company restructuring will affect each one. The writing of a business plan allows the entrepreneur to foresee all the indispensable steps to achieve the objective of restructuring/ expanding the existing business.

During this session the participants learn to define all the actions they will take to complete the restructuring or expansion of the activity, the time span of each action, the costs for each stage of development.This session devotes a particular place and importance to the presentation of the business plan for getting the necessary funding, both for founding and circulating capital, to the calculation of cash flows, determining the return on investment and assessing the expected profit. This topic is one of the main pillars of the subject in discussion. Obviously, this part requires more than the entrepreneurial spirit. Financial issues should be considered, which necessitates some knowledge on the field and especially the attention and concentration to grab the most useful principles and notions from the participants.

Centre for Comparative and International Studies and Tech360 organised on 31^st July 2019 roadshow in Tirana, Albania entitled: “Diversity and Inclusivity in Youth Leadership: Empowerment through Innovation”. This roadshow brought together Roma and non-Roma youth got who shared experiences and ideas on diversity and inclusivity and engaged in discussion how innovation can empower marginalised communities and particularly youth in North Albania.

The roadshow was organised at the ARKA Youth Centre in Shkodra. It was the third roadshow of the project, co-financed through a sub-grant provided within the project “Divided Past-Joint Future”, funded by the External Actions of the European Union.

Anisa Curraj, project coordinator, briefly introduced the project and its donor as well as the roles of CCIS and Tech360. Prof. Assoc. Dr. Nevila Xhindi, Community Liaison Expert and project manager at Mesdheu Centre, engaged the participants in discussions about current policies on diversity and Inclusivity of marginalised communities in Albania. Arta Nikolli, Executive Director of ARKA Youth Centre in Shkodra, did a presentation on leadership and how youth leadership is paramount to building respect for diversity and inclusivity particularly for remote communities and areas in North Albania. His presentation was backed up by testimonials of young leaders participating in the roadshow. Similar to other roadshows, Anisa Curraj, project coordinator, engaged the participants in discussions about the role of innovation in empowerment and inclusive society all the while keeping respect for human rights and diversity. All participants shared their views and experiences in their local communities regarding respect for diversity and inclusivity.

Roadshow Agenda (here)

Centre for Comparative and International Studies and Tech360 organised on 25th July 2019 roadshow in Tirana, Albania entitled: “Diversity and Inclusivity in Youth Leadership: Empowerment through Innovation”. This roadshow brought together Roma and non-Roma youth got who shared experiences and ideas on diversity and inclusivity and engaged in discussion how innovation can empower marginalised communities and particularly youth.

The roadshow was organised at the Youth Centre in Tirana in cooperation with local organisations such as Institute of Romani Culture in Albania, KPT Centre and Professional College of Tirana, Mesdheu Centre. It was the second roadshow of the project, co-financed through a sub-grant provided within the project “Divided Past-Joint Future”, funded by the External Actions of the European Union.

Anisa Curraj, project coordinator, briefly introduced the project and its donor as well as the roles of CCIS and Tech360. Prof. Assoc. Dr. Nevila Xhindi, Community Liaison Expert and project manager at Mesdheu Centre, engaged the participants in discussions about current policies on diversity and Inclusivity of marginalised communities in Albania. Bledar Taho, Executive Director of Institute of Romani Culture in Albania, did a presentation on leadership and how youth leadership is paramount to building respect for diversity and inclusivity. His presentation was backed up by testimonials of youth community leaders participating in the roadshow. The added value of the roadshow was the presentation of Lutjona Lula, Western Balkans Alumni Association (WBAA), who talked about youth activism in light of Europeanization. She engaged the participants in discussions about the role of activism in empowering marginalised youth and what does this mean in the European context and Albanian perspectives to join EU.

Finally, Anisa Curraj, project coordinator, engaged the participants in discussions about the role of innovation in empowerment and inclusive society all the while keeping respect for human rights and diversity. All participants shared their views and experiences in their local communities regarding respect for diversity and inclusivity. At the end video documentary with testimonials was prepared.

Roadshow Agenda (here)

Presentation on Youth Activism (here)

Centre for Comparative and International Studies and Tech360 organised on 19^th July 2019 roadshow in Fieri, Albania entitled: “Diversity and Inclusivity in Youth Leadership: Empowerment through Innovation” whereby Roma and non-Roma youth got together to share experiences and ideas on diversity and inclusivity and engage in discussion with local stakeholders on how to partner for an inclusive community in the city of Fier.

The roadshow was organised at the Youth Centre established by Municipality of Fier and in cooperation with local organisations such as the Romani Volunteer Corps of Institute of Romani Culture in Albania. This activity served as a mobility empowerment tool for youth from Tirana and Fieri to encourage a culture of diversity and inclusivity together.

Juljana Sokoli, CCIS Executive Director, briefly introduced the project and its donor as well as the roles of CCIS and Tech360.

Anisa Curraj, project coordinator, engaged the participants in discussions about the role of innovation in empowerment and inclusive society all the while keeping respect for human rights and diversity. In addition, Anisa worked with participants in concrete tasks on how entrepreneurship and innovation can support their empowerment and inclusivity in local communities.

Bledar Taho, Executive Director of Institute of Romani Culture in Albania, engaged the participants in discussions on leadership and how youth leadership is paramount to building respect for diversity and inclusivity.

Finally, all participants shared their views and experiences in their local communities regarding respect for diversity and inclusivity. Youth from Tirana who were present at the meeting have been engaged for a long time as volunteer with the Romani Volunter Corps and thus recommended youth from Fieri to join organisations and similar initiatives as tools to be more empowered and better prepared for their future.

Roadshow Agenda (click here)

Center for Comparative and International Studies in cooperation with business partner, Tech360, launched a new project entitled “Diversity and Inclusivity in Youth Leadership: Empowerment through Innovation”.

The kick off meeting was organised on 17^th June 2019 in Tirana, whereby project leader and partner introduced the project objectives and activities to project team and local stakeholders, particularly education institutions, business and civil society.

in addition to project presentation, a discussion session was held on role of innovation, leadership and empowerment for respect for diversity and inclusivity. More so, one of the project experts also engaged the participants in sharing views on diversity and inclusivity of marginalised communities in Albania. finally, the kick off meeting ended with a common understanding of joining forces to better support empowerment of marginalised communities, particularly Roma youth through innovation.

Kick off Agenda (click here)

Some special forms of entrepreneurship are addressed in this topic, which are referred to as “safe business” in economic literature. Participants learn about the facon production, how franchises are organized, what are the advantages and disadvantages of these forms of business activity, how they can be involved in the upper stream of value chains, etc. Going through the analysis of examples of companies that have carried out such activities, we will try to analyze the trends of these companies and how often they become leaders in their industry. In the end of the session, the participants take knowledge about the cost and benefit of entering the market using the franchise forms and what is their future.