Bulgarian Fund for Women

On 30th June 2006 a Round table for reporting the results of the NATIONAL CAMPAIGN "Participation of Roma Women in Public and Political Life - Central and Local Government" was held in Bulgaria Hotel. This initiative took place under the regional project "Roma Women Can Do It - II" funded by Stability Pact Gender Task Force. The coordinators of the six projects funded under the Program "Roma Women's NGOs - Active Participants in Civil Society in Bulgaria" were also invited to the meeting for reporting the results of their work in the funded projects.
The main idea was to bring together the participants in the two projects aimed at solving Roma women's problems in Bulgaria. BFW's grantees had a chance to learn about the discussions that took place at the Public Debates of the National Campaign, and the participants in RWCDI - II were informed about the concrete activities that grassroots organizations carry out with rather limited funds but with enormous enthusiasm and willingness.
The participants got to know each other, and exchanged experience and opinions in informal communication, and this will hopefully further the efforts for establishing a national network of Roma NGOs involved in the work on Roma women's problems. All of them approved and signed the DECLARATION for raising the Roma community's awareness of gender equality issues, increasing the level of education of Roma women, training and encouraging Roma women to participate in public life, increasing the number of Roma women experts in central and local administration, and stimulating Roma women's participation in political life in Bulgaria.
Representatives of the Ethnic and Demographic Issues Direction with the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Laboiur and Social Policy, political parties, Roma and non-Roma NGOs took part in the discussions.
The meeting was covered by the media, and this fact goes to demonstrate the newly-developed attitude for presenting a new image of Roma women as educated and successful individuals who have found their well deserved place in Bulgarian society.

Kalinka Slivkova - Project coordinator

• Monitoring - Shumen - 9 april 2006
  
• Monitoring - Dupnica - 5 april 2006
  
• Monitoring - village of Lilyak - 25th april 2006