Three Young People. Three Different Paths. One Opportunity to Begin.

UNDP Albania

September 25, 2026

Three Young People. Three Different Paths. One Opportunity to Begin. — Following counselling and guidance to help match her skills with the workplace, Melisa began a paid placement and professional training with the Marketing Department of Elite Travel Group.

UNDP Albania

Sometimes, the first step towards a career begins with something you did not expect.

For Melisa, it meant stepping beyond her studies in Medical Imaging and discovering a new world in tourism.

For Luçiano, it meant overcoming the challenge of entering the labour market without previous work experience.

For Ilva, it meant turning knowledge into practical skills in a real workplace.

They are three young people from Elbasan, with different educational backgrounds, ambitions and starting points. But they have something important in common: they were looking for an opportunity to begin.

That opportunity came under the youth guarantee scheme through on-the-job learning employment programe for young people not in employment, education or training (NEET), financed by UNDP, in cooperation with the Elbasan Employment Office, Elbasan municipality and implemented by Elite Travel Group.

The intervention is made possible by UNDP in the context of the UN Joint Programme “Lifelong Empowerment and Protection in Albania” (LEAP)—an initiative focused on creating opportunities that help people build skills, strengthen their resilience and participate more fully in economic and social life.

For Melisa, Luçiano and Ilva, the programme is doing something very concrete: helping them move from looking for an opportunity to gaining experience, confidence and a clearer path towards employment.

At 25, Melisa Maloku had completed her bachelor’s degree in medical Imaging. After graduating, she registered with the Elbasan Employment Office as an unemployed jobseeker.

When she was contacted by the local employment agency offices and introduced to the possibility of taking part in training and paid work-based learning, she found herself facing a field far removed from her academic background.
Tourism was new to her.

But that was precisely what made the opportunity interesting.

“I saw it as a challenge worth trying,” Melisa says.

She decided it was time to step outside her comfort zone, test herself in a new direction and discover more of her potential.

Following counselling and guidance to help match her skills with the workplace, Melisa began a paid placement and professional training with the Marketing Department of Elite Travel Group.

Every day brought something new: real workplace situations, new responsibilities and opportunities to apply her existing skills in a completely different context.

And somewhere along the way, something changed.

Melisa realised that entering an unfamiliar field did not mean starting from zero.

She could adapt. She could learn. She could contribute.

Most importantly, she discovered abilities she had not known she possessed.

Today, she sees the experience as an important step towards her professional future—one that has given her new skills, greater confidence and a better understanding of herself.

For Luçiano Cërriku, the challenge was different.

After completing his higher education in Nursing, he faced a situation familiar to many young people entering the labour market: having the qualifications but not yet having the experience employers often ask for.

Through the same employment promotion programme, Luçiano was given the opportunity to undertake a paid placement at Elite Travel Group.

At first, he was sceptical and uncertain about what lay ahead.

That feeling did not last.

In his new workplace, he found colleagues willing to collaborate, guide him and help him navigate the challenges of everyday work. Slowly, uncertainty gave way to curiosity and confidence.

“I learn, research and work every day,” he says.

The experience is helping him develop practical skills and, just as importantly, understand what it means to work in a professional environment.

For Luçiano, the placement represents more than a temporary opportunity. It is a bridge towards employment—and a source of motivation to keep moving forward.

Through the programme, she joined Elite Travel Group for paid professional training in the workplace, working in the Product & Innovation Department. — Ilva now works in the Product & Innovation Department, at Elite Travel Group

UNDP Albania

At 23, Ilva Hasanllari already understood the value of education. But she also knew that knowledge becomes more powerful when it is tested in practice.

Her goal was to develop professionally, expand her knowledge and gain concrete experience in a real workplace.

Through the programme, she joined Elite Travel Group for paid professional training in the workplace, working in the Product & Innovation Department.

There, she is learning how tours are organised and how different parts of a business come together—from teamwork and communication with colleagues and partners to managing tasks and responding to different professional situations.

For Ilva, the experience is proving an important lesson: theory provides a foundation, but practice gives it meaning.

Each day is helping her build the practical skills, confidence and understanding of workplace responsibilities that she will carry into her future career.

Melisa, Luçiano and Ilva did not arrive at Elite Travel Group with the same education, experience or expectations.

One came from Medical Imaging.

One from Nursing.

One with a desire to turn knowledge into practical experience.

What brought them together was something simpler: the willingness to try.

“” These stories show that the transition from education to employment is not always a straight line. Sometimes it involves entering an unfamiliar sector. Sometimes it means overcoming the barrier of having no previous experience. Sometimes it means discovering that what you have learned in the classroom needs a real workplace to fully come alive. But with the right support, an opportunity can become much more than a placement”-says Mirjeta Ramizi, Project Manager.

It can become a first professional network.

A first real workplace experience.

A new skill.

A new direction.

And, perhaps most importantly, the confidence to take the next step.

This is at the heart of the LEAP approach: creating opportunities that help people develop their potential and ensuring that support reaches those who need a pathway forward.

For Melisa, Luçiano and Ilva, that journey is already underway.

And their experiences point to a shared lesson:

Young people do not always need someone to tell them which path to take. Sometimes, they need someone to open the door—and the opportunity to discover where they can go.

Under the youth guarantee scheme through on-the-job learning employment programmefor young people NEET, made possible by UNDP in the context of LEAP, and delivered in cooperation with the Elbasan Employment Office and Elite Travel Group, that door is being opened.

For these three young people, the first step has been taken.

Now, they are building what comes next.

Lifelong Empowerment and Protection in Albania" programme, funded by the Joint SDG Fund and implemented by UNDP, ILO, and UN Women, in partnership with Ministry of Economy and Innovation, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and National Agency for Employment and Skills. The programme also contributes to Albania’s pathway under the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, demonstrating how targeted local solutions — such as the Youth Guarantee experience in Elbasan — can contribute to a broader transition towards more inclusive labour markets, stronger social protection and better opportunities for people throughout their working lives.