TIRANA, ALBANIA     On September 28, Albania’s Minister of Infrastructure and Energy formally institutionalized this Test-Based Certification Program for all staff at the country’s water and sewage utilities.

To help ensure that Albania’s water and sewage sector workforce has the knowledge and skills to meet the country’s water supply and treatment needs and bring them into compliance with European Union directives, USAID’s project implemented by Shoqata Ujësjellës Kanalizime e Shqipërisë (SHUKALB - also known as the Water Supply and Sewerage Association in Albania) assisted the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MEI) in establishing this national program of workforce Training and Test Based Certification.

The certification program is designed to provide opportunities to current water and sewage sector operators and their staff to continuously upgrade their skills, and also to orient and select the new staff looking to work in the water sector.

About USAID's work with SHUKALB

USAID has given SHUKALB a grant to support Albania’s Water Supply and Sewerage Services Sector Strategy to establish a national program of training and certification, designed to qualify candidates for test-based operator certification and provide opportunities to certified operators and skilled technicians to continuously upgrade their skills in the water supply and sewerage sector.

Through this project, USAID will also promote formal water supply and wastewater trainings in the region, by working with Albania's neighboring countries (Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia) under the Western Balkans Partnership of Water Associations.