TIRANA: RYCO Secretary General Mr. Albert Hani and Head of the Local Branch in Albania Mr. Kreshnik Loka, hosted several media representatives from Albania on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at the RYCO Head Office in Tirana.
The working breakfast with the journalists offered them a valuable chance to glean insights from Mr. Hani regarding RYCO’s mission and its influential efforts with youth and key stakeholders, encompassing media and journalists throughout the Western Balkans region. Meanwhile, Mr. Loka presented various programs that RYCO has been implementing for over 7 years to foster reconciliation and cooperation among youth in the region. It was underlined that RYCO places special emphasis on its regional programs concerning media, including the HAJDE platform, Peace Broadcasters, and the Western Balkans Youth Forum. These initiatives hold significant value as they acknowledge the role of journalists in advancing peace-building efforts and addressing critical topics such as dealing with the past, transitional justice, and promoting peace journalism.
During the meeting, participants engaged in fruitful discussions about RYCO’s impact in the region and explored ways to enhance collaboration for better promotion of youth topics in media outlets. They also discussed important findings and insights from the Shared Future Study regarding covering themes such as Brain Drain and Brain Gain in the region, the EU integration process, and media coverage of these crucial topics
Participants concluded that there is potential for improving cooperation through the inclusion of journalists in existing programs and the creation of new projects that will contribute to greater media representation of young people in the region, as well as RYCO’s key topics.
The series of events with media representatives kicked off in Tirana and will continue across the WB6. The meeting with journalists in Tirana marks the beginning of a collaborative journey towards better representation of youth voices in media across the Western Balkans region.
