With support from Joint SDG Fund: Connecting social protection with employment, dignity with care and people with purpose

UNDP Albania

July 10, 2025

With support from Joint SDG Fund: Connecting social protection with employment, dignity with care and people with purpose

UNDP Albania

Thelleza Facia waited ten years for a job that never came.

She is 50, lives in Librazhd, and spent her most productive years without income or opportunity. “I looked everywhere. Nothing. Not even hope,” she says.

Then came a phone call. A friend told her about a training course in long-term care offered by UNDP. It was part of the LEAP Albania programme—Lifelong Empowerment and Protection—a UN joint programme funded by the Joint SDG Fund and implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, and ILO in partnership with the Government of Albania.

The UNDP-supported course offered more than skills. It gave her a way to re-enter society

“It gives me a reason to leave the house again. I prepare myself every day to serve someone who needs me,” she says. “We all have our burdens, but this work makes me feel useful.”

A Silent Crisis

In Librazhd alone, 180 elderly people need urgent care. Hundreds more in the surrounding villages live without help.
Across Albania, 13% of the elderly have no caregiver at all. Among those who are otherwise independent, the figure rises to 20%.

Most simply cannot afford it.

84% of Albania’s elderly say private care is out of reach. State-supported caregivers are rare—only five such cases found in a recent assessment.

Who takes care of them? 41% of the elderly who are completely dependent live far from their relatives.

41% of the elderly who are completely dependent live far from their relatives.

74% of elderly men rely on their wives, but only 30% of women rely on husbands. Women are also twice as likely to be left without any caregiver.

LEAP aims to change that—by training women like Thelleza to enter the care workforce while supporting vulnerable elders like Vule.

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Bule is a single mother who survives on economic aid. Today, she visited Vule, a 67-year-old pensioner. Vule’s pension is 17,000 lek (200 USD). Her medicine alone costs 14,000 lek (166 USD). Rent takes another 15,000 lek (178 USD).

Her children live abroad. Her husband passed away. A thrombosis left her with limited mobility.
Bule visits her regularly. She checks her blood pressure, picks up prescriptions, does the groceries, and helps her eat. "If Bule didn’t come," Vule says quietly, "I’d be forgotten."

The support goes both ways. Bule says this work keeps her grounded. “I’m not just doing a job,” she says. “I’m helping someone stay alive.”

Fifteen women like Thelleza and Bule were trained in Librazhd. They will now work as certified caregivers. Fifty elderly residents will receive consistent, qualified support at home.

But this is just a start.

Launched in 2024, LEAP Albania will reach over 500 vulnerable people—women, men, and youth—in nine municipalities. It combines professional training with social protection support and employment facilitation through partnerships like the National Agency for Employment and Skills (AKPA).

The urgency is clear:
•    Only 10% of current social care beneficiaries in Albania are elderly—just 3,800 people nationwide.
•    30 of 61 municipalities have no community services for the elderly.
•    75% of care centers struggle to recruit staff due to low pay and high workload.
•    92% of institutions lack dementia care.

What’s the alternative? Institutional care is not the answer—97% of Albania’s elderly reject it.

They prefer to age at home. But 61% of the highly dependent elderly have no access to transport. 68% say their homes are unsafe. Most live alone. Many face depression and anxiety.

How do we fill these gaps?

Train more caregivers. Invest in mobile support teams. Link jobless women and youth with paid care work. Equip homes with safety tools. Provide subsidies for families caring for elders.

And above all—recognize that care work is real work.

A Simple Equation

One woman trained = one elder supported.

One visit = one day less of loneliness.

One programme = hundreds of lives changed.

Thelleza sums it up best: “I thought I had nothing left to offer. Now I feel like I matter again.”

She does.

So does every elder in Albania waiting for someone to knock on their door.

LEAP gives more than services. It gives hope.

It shows that with the right support, women can re-enter the workforce, elders can age with dignity, and communities can take care of their own.

What started in Librazhd is already making a difference. But Albania needs more of it—more trained caregivers, more supported elders, more targeted investment.

LEAP is not just a programme. It’s a working model. One that connects social protection with employment, dignity with care, and people with purpose.

“We hope, this project will serve as a blueprint for replication—across municipalities, across sectors, across the country”, - says Eno Ngjela, Programme Specialist at UNDP.

Because everyone deserves support. And no one should be left behind.