OSCE Presence in Albania, Tirana University launch Executive Master’s Programme in Criminology

The OSCE Presence in Albania and the University of Tirana launched an Executive Master’s Programme in Criminology, the first of its kind in Albania, at an event on 14 December 2020.

The Master’s Programme was launched following a period of more than two years of intensive work focused on developing the structure and curricula of the programme, and building the capacities and resources of the University of Tirana to deliver and manage it. There will be twenty-five students participating in the programme in the first year.

“The Executive Master Programme in Criminology has the potential to be ground-breaking for the country, departing from a classic approach to crime, based on investigation and punishment, switching the focus and effort to a more encompassing approach,” said Vincenzo Del Monaco, Head of Presence.

Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Evis Kushi, said: “Albania had a vacuum in the university programmes with regard to the preparation of criminology experts and, thanks to the support for the OSCE Presence, we assessed our needs in this field and prepared for the first time this Executive Master’s Programme. I believe that the new Master’s Programme will be an added value in the qualification of human sources and the development of even more efficient criminal policies.

The Rector of the University of Tirana and the deans of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social Sciences also spoke at the event.

Through the Master’s Programme, the Presence aims at improving research capacities of professionals, academics and policy-makers in Albania in order to support identifying root causes of crime. The Programme will enable students to explore the interrelationships between crime, justice and society in a comparative context, as well as promote restorative justice for victims and victim-centred responses.

The project “On Establishing a Master’s Programme in Criminology” is implemented by the OSCE Presence with financial support of the United States Mission to the OSCE and the British Embassy in Tirana. It is implemented in close co-operation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Tirana, with the support of the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior.