Events

NNC presented Report Card 2018

Sofia, April 26, 2018

„There is a simulation by the institutions that they think on children related issues. ... 2017 was relatively calm from economical and political points of view and if there was a will politicians could work more successfully on this priority – improving the well-being of children“, said in its outgiving Georgi Apostolov – the Chairman of the Board of National Network for Children (NNC).
The ‘Report Card: What is the average government score in childcare?’, prepared for the seventh consecutive year, was presented in nine towns in the country at one and the same time. The overall score which the institutions received during this year for their work and the policies concerning children, is the lowest comparing with the previous years – 2,88. The scores for the five main areas, which the Report Card reviewed, are as follows: „General principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child“: 2.60; „Family environment and alternative care“: 2.55; „Health care“: 3,19; „Education“: 3,02; „Justice“: 2,79.

34 new health mediators completed successfully their training in Sofia Medical University

Sofia, April 1, 2018

Just before the beginning of the astronomic spring, on March 19, 2018 the new scholar year for the newest generation of Roma Health Mediators was officially opened in the University Hospital “Tsaritsa Joanna”. The training is held for a seventh consecutive year from the National Network of Health Mediators (NNHM) in partnership with the Public Health Faculty of Sofia Medical University. The Class of 2018 consists of 34 Health Mediators, selected based on a concourse with strict procedure and rules, conducted in the municipalities of Sandanski, Pertich, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Elena, Zlataritsa, Hayredin, Kjustendil,Lukovit, Radomir, Iskar, Karlovo, Plovdiv, Zavet, Nova Zagora, Sofia, Botevgrad, Maglizh, Radnevo, Popovo, Dimitrovgrad, Svilengrad, Hikola Kozlevo, Varbitza, Toundja, Boliarovo, Kurdzhali and Montana. The intensive training going with not a single free day in which experts from the BFPA team take part from the very beginning of the program, ended with an exam, successfully passed by all future mediators on March 31.

Preventing Together Violence against Women

Sofia, March 27, 2018

The campaign "You are not alone! Together against Violence " is addressing the government with five main goals. The Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association (BFPA) is supporting the campaign as one of the non-governmental organizations and several independent media united against domestic violence for the first time as a Bulgarian civil society. The campaign has five basic change goals and insists on specific government commitments to ensure the prevention and successful fight in violence against women:
• Incriminating the domestic violence - all forms of violence against women: domestic violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, persecution, systemic psychological violence, and all other serious forms of violence to be included explicitly in the Penal Code and to be treated and punished as crimes.

Against encouraging children and young people to gamble

Sofia, February 26, 2018

NGOs, members of the National Network for Children, sent an open letter to responsible institutions in order to alarm them about the risk of encouraging children and young people towards gambling by the advertisement from “Chocolate Ticket by the National Lottery – 7777.bg”. BFPA is not only a part of the initiative, but also as an organization working in the field of health prevention and health education finds it’s especially important to work for dependency prevention, including gambling addiction and also for preventing eating disorders in adolescent girls, who are very susceptible to anorexia, for example. The advertisement disseminates messages, unsuitable for children and young people in those two senses – that chocolate shouldn’t be eaten, “we only smell it”, and that scratch cards are an essential part of everyday life and the main way to prosperity. Here are some parts of the letter to the institutions:

BFPA together with other NGOs supports the Convention of the Council of Europe on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence

Sofia, January 5, 2018

In connection with the heated debate and the campaign against the ratification of CE’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) we, a group of organizations and experts in the field of domestic violence and child protection, state our firm support for the ratification of the Convention and our firm position against all false statements and suggestions in connection with it, based on lack of knowledge on the subject or deliberate manipulation of the public opinion. Shifting of the public debate in the wrong direction is the same as refusing to take decisive measures against the violence towards women and children.
For thousands women and children in Bulgaria violence is an everyday occurrence. According to the latest data 1 million out of 4 million Bulgarian women are victims of violence at home. For 54% of Bulgarians sexual violence is an extremely serious problem. According to a survey among students between 13 and 16 old, 70% know personally victims of domestic violence. Child Protection services, who according to Bulgarian legislation are authorized to take measures for protecting children at risk and work with them and their families, in 2015 have worked on 1839 cases in total.

Bill on the Regulation of the Fundamentals of Volunteering

Sofia, December 14, 2017

A bill on volunteering is submitted by a group of MPs on December 14, 2017 for consideration and voting in the National Assembly. The initiative was launched by the Public Council of Citizens of the Commission for Interaction with NGOs and Complaints of Citizens to the Parliament.
In the motives the law is submitted it is shown that the fundamentals of the volunteering activities are regulated within it. Definitions of ‘voluntary organization’, ‘voluntary activities’ and ‘volunteer’ are given. Appropriate prerequisites to provide the participation of volunteers are introduced. The necessary conditions for determining their legal status are established. The relations concerning training and qualification of volunteers are also regulated. Reimbursement of the costs made by the volunteer during or in connection with various activities is foreseen.

BFPA’s participation in the European HIV and Hepatitis testing week

Sofia, November 17–24, 2017

In the period between November 17 and 24 BFPA was one of the 15 Bulgarian organizations who took part in the European HIV and Hepatitis testing week. The campaign was held for a fifth consecutive year, BFPA being part of it from the very beginning, as for the last three years Hepatitis B and C testing is included in the testing options. The aim is to increase the number of informed individuals about the dangers of infection as well as encourage them to find out their HIV and Hepatitis status. The campaign is pan-European, 679 organizations from the whole of Europe and Israel signed up for participation, as a certain part of them are multinational. The organizations from Bulgaria, who took place in the campaign, focus on prevention of HIV infection, prevention of prevalence of Hepatitis B and C and also organizations who focus on prevention of STI as a whole.

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