Situation analysis on the prevention of child maltreatment in Albania: the way forward (2016)

This situation analysis report on prevention of child maltreatment in Albania has been prepared with the cooperation of many stakeholders from different ministries, such as Social Welfare and Youth, Education, Justice, the police as well as nongovernmental organizations. Studies conducted in Albania suggest that many children needlessly suffer from child maltreatment. As in other countries, most maltreatment occurs in the community and may not come to the attention of child protection agencies. It is nevertheless a grave public health and societal problem with far-reaching consequences for the mental, physical and reproductive health of children, and for societal development. Health systems have a key role to play, not only in providing high-quality services for children who experience violence, but also in detecting and supporting families at risk. They should also implement prevention programmes such as home visitation and parenting support, and hospital-based interventions to support parents, along with programmes against abusive head trauma. Collaborative actions are required between all partners in order to tackle this public health and societal problem. One way of ensuring this is to develop a national policy on the prevention of child maltreatment.