Albanian diaspora (Albanian: Mërgata Shqiptare or Diaspora Shqiptare) are the ethnic Albanians and their descendants living outside of their country of origin; in Switzerland about 250’000 persons, which makes Albanian the fifth most spoken language in the country. Rather than focusing on diaspora as an organised group, Risi works with individual entrepreneurs that have a diaspora background. These are persons who came back after a couple of years working abroad or others who grew up abroad and now returned to their home country and starting a business. Some are also persons still living abroad and doing business there but increasingly investing in own or existing companies in Albania.…

If you saw the title of this blog, we bet you would think that it’s about boring statistics and information on labour markets. You aren’t alone, and it isn’t your fault. This is how many organisations gather, analyse and report about labour market information. The good news is that labour market information is more than a collection of job vacancies and (un)employment figures. Labour markets in general are about having skilled people who’re ready to enter/renter the job market. Employers demand skilled people. But this isn’t the whole story. Sometimes the two – skilled people and employers – don’t match or don’t have effective ways of knowing the…

Do you consider youth unemployment a global challenge? If you are an entrepreneur, you may instead call it “an opportunity”.  A demographic segment affected by the same problem? That’s the definition of a target market! Yet we don’t see business – such as media – taking advantage of this niche in most affected countries. Television around the world is notorious for providing an escape, not a pathway to success. In an American fantasy series “Sense8”, a woman from a well-off family in India asks a friend from a poor village in Kenya why he has an expensive TV but no beds.  “Ah… That’s simple”, the man replies. “The…

Applying the systemic approach in complex environments: youth employment in Albania and spotting opportunities in the ICT sector We’re certain that this question has been asked many times by development practitioners who apply principles of systemic approach in complex and ever-changing contexts. Perhaps in the past we all sat back and wondered what this meant and how it could be done. Truth is we didn’t figure this out until we came across an opportunity in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector while discussing ideas with our partners in Albania. Opportunities do not often come along RisiAlbania, a youth employment initiative, supports the development of service market and creation of jobs in…

Mediterranean Export – Imports Albania (MEIA): a willing and capable partner Emiland Skora is the main shareholder of MEIA. He’s an interesting story. When he came across Risi, he had already taken up loans which he was in the process of repaying. He could not access any more formal finance, and was struggling to meet demand from his international customers. Having spent a long time in the US, Emiland had connections abroad, international demand and a market for his high quality essential oils produced from Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) – particularly for producing helichrysum essential oils. He had a strong vision and the business and technical abilities to make…

We first met a year and a half ago. Admir was a candidate for the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Manager position of a youth employment project, RisiAlbania. Zenebe was a member of the recruitment panel, participating from the Head Office of Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation. Admir got the job. Yet this was just the start…Development practitioners work in complex, rapidly changing environments. Practical and right-sized M&E systems are therefore important to enhance the quality of projects, for example regarding whether an intervention is contributing to a project’s goal. In this blog post, we look back at our expectations – both from Admir and the project –  and review what has happened since…