Criminal assets are turned into social businesses - The "Our Land" Project, an innovation in empowering local communities
Agricultural lands confiscated from organized crime will be put to reuse, through the development of social agriculture as an innovative instrument for empowering local communities, including groups in need, and strengthening the rule of law.
Since 2022, the "Our Land" project, the first of this format, funded by the European Commission, has been implemented in Albania.
Social agriculture, as the core of the project, is put at the service of creating new opportunities for employment and self-employment for young people, women, marginalized groups and family members of victims of organized crime, with the aim of curbing emigration and revitalizing rural areas.
Andrea Ferrero, EU Delegation to Albania
"This project is supported by the European Union. Organized crime has left many communities in the shadow, so confiscated lands can be turned into an opportunity for communities and benefits can be created from these assets. Society benefits from this project and aims to show how turning these lands into social businesses can affect rural development, how it can create jobs and a growing economy."
The total value of assets confiscated and seized by SPAK in 2024 amounts to 65.5 million euros.
Besfort Lamallari, Deputy Minister of Interior
"Albania is a model in the region for such initiatives, the social use of criminal assets, but as we continue our efforts for the social use of these assets, we have witnessed an increase in the striking force of organized crime. Seizures have increased exponentially compared to the past, but also an increase in confiscations in relation to seizures. The figures are encouraging that we are on the right track."
Risena Xhaja, Chief Administrator, AAPSK
"The project has proven that when institutional willpower comes together, it produces its effects. The project has had its own problems, but we have learned how to facilitate this process. In the coming days we will have a call for organizations for their projects, and this will follow the publication of the catalog for confiscated and sequestered properties. The institution's income has tripled and the demands have increased."
In line with national priorities and international standards for the recovery and reuse of confiscated assets, the project has contributed to increasing the capacities of civil society organizations, promoting new models of social entrepreneurship and inter-institutional cooperation.
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