Safer Together! (2024 - 2025)
This initiative worked to strengthening community resilience against disinformation and hate speech, focusing in Elbasan, Librazhd, and Pogradec regions. It effectively improved media and information literacy (MIL) by establishing three Community Media Groups composed of 60 active citizens, including youth and women, who were trained and mentored to act as local multipliers of knowledge. Through interactive trainings, participants were equipped with comprehensive knowledge and practical skills on key topics, including MIL, identification of reliable and credible information
sources, critical analysis of media content, and the detection of disinformation, fake news, and hate
speech. The training sessions also covered the impact of media on public opinion, the risks of social polarization and radicalization, and the role of responsible communication in promoting
social cohesion. The initiative further expanded its impact through a three-month awareness raising
campaign, reaching over 17,000 citizens via social media channels. By empowering local actors to lead awareness efforts, the initiative fostered active citizenship, strengthened social cohesion, and promoted democratic values. Its sustainable, community-based approach ensured that knowledge and practices continue beyond SCI’s support, contributing to long-term resilience against polarization and misinformation. This initiative was supported by Albanian Media Institute with funding by the European Union.

Think Before You Click! (2024)

Through this project, SCI empowered women and girls in girls across all seven municipalities of Gjirokastra region, focusing particularly on those in rural and underserved areas, to better protect themselves from cyber violence and online risks. A careful and inclusive selection process ensured the participation of 158 women and girls, prioritizing those with active roles in their communities and strong communication capacities, in order to maximize outreach and sustainability.

SCI experts delivered seven interactive “Think Before You Click” sessions that provided practical, hands-on guidance on key topics such as identifying online threats, protecting personal data, safe use of social media, and responding to cybercrime. The participatory format encouraged dialogue, peer learning, and experience-sharing, significantly enhancing engagement and knowledge retention. Participants also received user-friendly educational materials, which they further disseminated within their communities, creating a multiplier effect and expanding the project’s reach beyond direct beneficiaries. SCI conducted then an online awareness campaign on cybersecurity, utilizing social media and digital content to reach a broader audience. This campaign reinforced the knowledge gained during the sessions and ensured continued visibility and accessibility of key messages on digital safety.

The project went beyond individual impact, as many participants transitioned into active “digital safety agents” within their communities. This multiplier effect substantially expanded the project’s reach, contributing to the creation of safer, more informed, and more resilient community environments, both online and offline.

The project was supported by the Albanian Women Empowerment Network (AWEN) with funds provided by the Sigrid Rausing Fund.

“Monitoring the Coverage of Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence on Albanian Television” (2020 - 2022)

This initiative served to improve media reporting of gender-based violence cases, in order to promote gender equality and positive social changes related to addressing this social wound. SCI experts monitored 622 television programs and 235 news editions, a total of about 76,000 minutes of television time, of which 11% belonged to news and 89% to television shows. The monitoring findings were presented in a report, which served to prepare the Guide for Ethical Coverage of Gender-Based Violence by the Media, as well as to increase the level of awareness of journalists and editors regarding the issue of media reporting of gender-based violence cases.
In order to encourage the media to develop and monitor the implementation of self-regulatory standards when reporting on cases of violence against women and gender equality issues, SCI experts drafted the Guide to Ethical Coverage of Gender-Based Violence by the Media and widely distributed it to journalists, editors, Journalism students at the University of Tirana, as well as civil society organizations working in the field of media and gender equality.
This initiative was funded by the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tirana through the “Justice for All” project implemented by the East-West Management Institute (ewmi.org) and funded by USAID.

“Talking about Men and Women” (2019)

SCI produced a series of 10 podcasts titled “Talking about Men and Women”, which focused on the challenges of reconciling professional and private life among media professionals: journalists and editors. Through interesting stories of real characters, these podcasts served to promote good partnership models between women and men working in different media sectors in Albania: radio, television and digital media. SCI experts selected 10 couples or parents, where at least one of them worked as a journalist, editor, director or in another technical role in the media field, and interviewed them together. These interviews discussed issues of difficulties and challenges faced by media professionals, with special attention paid to the challenges faced by women, as well as the support mechanisms that these professionals had found to overcome these difficulties, bringing positive models of mutual support. To listen to the podcasts, click here: https://soundcloud.com/sci-podcast
This initiative was funded by the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tirana through the “Justice for All” project implemented by the East-West Management Institute (ewmi.org) and funded by USAID.

“Guide on Gender Perspective and Social Inclusion in the Media” (2019)

This initiative contributed to the prevention of gender-based discrimination and social exclusion of specific groups during reporting in various media: radio, newspapers, television or digital media. SCI experts prepared the “Guide on Gender Perspective and Social Inclusion in the Media” and, on its basis, organized a series of trainings with 36 journalists and journalism students in Tirana, Shkodra and Vlora regions. The guide provides key concepts and practical advice that help journalists, editors and producers to report on events and people on the basis of respect for gender equality and social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, thus contributing to the creation of a more equal and inclusive society in Albania. In implementing this initiative, SCI cooperated with the Department of Journalism at Tirana University.
This initiative was funded by the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tirana through the “Justice for All” project implemented by the East-West Management Institute (ewmi.org) and funded by USAID.