Open Society Institute ÿíóàðè 2004 Annual Supported Initiatives Report Projects 2004 SOFIA INSTITUTE

SOCIETY

S

O

I

F N S O OPEN I O S A P T C E I I T N E U T Y T E MISSION To promote,

practices attitudes develop sustain society values, open help and and the the of in OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE SOFIA 2005

MISSION

To promote, help develop and sustain the values, attitudes and practices of the open society in Bulgaria

Democratizing public life in Bulgaria

Extending and guaranteeing civil liberties

Strengthening civic sector institutions

Developing public debates and policies on crucial issues for Bulgaria

European integration and regional cooperation of Bulgaria

The Open Society Institute – Sofia is registered as a public benefit organization AANNUALNNUAL RREPORTEPORT 22004004

OOPENPEN SSOCIETYOCIETY IINSTITUTENSTITUTE SSOFIAOFIA Open Society Institute — Sofia

FOUNDER George Soros

Board of Trustees Stefan Popov – Chairman Haralan Alexandrov Sasha Bezuhanova Kina Chuturkova Marin Deltchev Petia Kabakchieva Juliana Nikolova Svetlana Vassileva

Ombudsman Prolet Velkova

Executive Director Rayna Gavrilova

Financial Director Veliko Sherbanov

Program Directors Ivanka Ivanova Assya Kavrakova Neda Kristanova Cveta Petkova Kalin Tsekov Elena Zlatanova Open Society Institute — Sofia Annual Report 2004

CONTENTS

2004...... 4

Financial Profile 2004 ...... 6

Public Debate Program ...... 10

European Integration and Regional Stability Program...... 13

Law Program ...... 15

Governance and Public Policies Program ...... 20

Civil Society Program...... 23

Roma Program ...... 26

Education Policies Program ...... 28

Network Scholarship Programs ...... 33

Public Health Program...... 35

Network East–East Program...... 41

Open Society Institute — Sofia Annual Report 2004

2004

In the context of OSI–S strategy for development, the year 2004 was a key one in the efforts of Open Society Institute – Sofia to strengthen its position as an organization committed to developing and implementing new public policies, based on the principle for utmost protection of public interest.

This role was operationalized primarily through experts’ work in a variety of areas: legal system, central and local government, public health, education, integration of Roma, civil society. Mobilizing its potential and attracting in a close partnership a large number of experts and organizations, OSI–S elaborated and presented a series of papers: long-term and visionary strategies for the country’s development (“Bulgaria 2005–2010: Sectoral Policies”), as well as targeted and highly specialized expert analyses on decentralization, regional planning, EU accession, etc. Some of the outputs of this expertise were immediately implemented in the practice of both public administration and NGOs who serve as a corrective of the official public policy.

OSI–S sees its mission first and foremost as being an active agent of change. To this end, the “hidden” cabinet work of our expert teams in all cases evolved into public discussions, organized in a variety of formats: from focus groups to presentations on the national media.

Public discussions and efforts to change public attitudes are always complemented by limited in number and scope, but targeted projects, which test the feasibility of certain practices. Regardless of whether they are meant to assess readiness for conducting reforms in education (“Developing a Secondary School Monitoring System in Bulgaria”) or in state administration (“Distance Learning Program for State Administration Officials”), these initiatives are targeted primarily to identifying possibilities for improving public environment and public policies.

Convinced th