Tech Camp

The BiblioTech program kicked off this year with the Summer Tech Camps in Shkodër and Tirana. BiblioTech is an initiative undertaken by the Albania Sustainable Development Organization, with UNICEF Albania in the framework of the programme “Transforming National Response to Human Trafficking in and from Albania” supported by UK Government.

During 11 and 12 July more than 30 young people in Shkodra, a part of them coming from rural and disadvantaged communities, got to learn and interact with the mentors of the Tech Camp and improve their tech skills, in programming through Scratch as well as get to know more about misinformation and the role of images in sharing positive messages, through dedicated sessions on image editing.

In Tirana the Tech Camp was held during 24 and 25 August and focused on staying safe online, programming a web page for the children as well as providing them with support in creating their own webpage and business idea. On the second day the camp continued with the creation of content for the webpage that the children had designed as well as focused on recognizing and battling harmful and dangerous behaviors online.

ASDO as a UNICEF Partner has been implementing the BiblioTech program for more than 3 years in their common quest to combat and prevent human trafficking and build more resilient and independent youth that through the BiblioTech program will improve their skills as well as keep away from human trafficking schemes, especially ones that target children through the internet and or social media.

The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the advent of the Internet has introduced an entirely new dimension of child and adolescent exploitation. All forms of violence against children, including online sexual exploitation, are unacceptable and a direct attack on the inviolable, inherent dignity of every child. The only instrument we have in our hands today is to empower and train children and teenagers to navigate safely and in full confidence. Through the Tech Camp and by introducing the importance of fun games and the impact on the development of skills of children and young people. The benefits of games in improving cognitive skills such as logic, problem solving, strategic planning and thinking was discussed as well as the advantages of games in the development of social and emotional skills.

Furthermore the children were trained at keeping their personal information safe on social media and gaming platforms and chatrooms, protecting themselves from online predators, playing safely online, understanding bullying and how to be safe from it.

The BiblioTech area in Shkodër was also visited by Roberto de Bernardi, the UNICEF Representative in Albania, that interacted with the youth of the camp, visited the site and got the opportunity to learn more about the program as well as the hopes and plans of the young people.

The first Tech Camp ended with each team of children creating a composite image of a picture of the city that they had brought, and adding on it elements that they would like to see, thus creating the city of their dreams and their works will be showcased in October, for the UN Week, in an exhibition that will be held in the city of Shkodra.