OSCE Presence trains school security officers to increase school safety in Albania

With the aim to enhance school safety and security through preventive actions, the OSCE Presence in Albania organized a series of soft skills training events for school security officers in Korça, Tirana and Shkodra, from 7 to 9 December 2024.

The training comes at a crucial time, addressing Albania's growing need for proactive interventions to ensure that schools are not just places of learning, but also environments of safety and support. The training equipped school security officers with skills like conflict de-escalation, effective communication and emotional resilience.

Through interactive role-plays, group discussions and hands-on exercises, participants gained practical tools to handle daily challenges with confidence and care.

These trainings concluded the efforts of the Presence during 2024 to strengthen community safety and security, through a multi-stakeholder approach, focused on prevention. They complemented other interventions including legal education for pupils of primary schools throughout the country; information sessions on youth crime prevention for front-line actors working with children and minors; information sessions on preventing and countering violent extremism leading to terrorism for police officers working in hotspot areas; tailored trainings on youth crime prevention for police and child protection officers, and empowerment of Local Safety Councils.

The Presence's work to enhance community safety and security will continue in 2025 with initiatives that will be implemented in partnership with state authorities at local and central levels.