Annual Report 2000

ANNUAL REPORT 2000 OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION SOFIA -1- OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION - SOFIA Founder George Soros Board of Trustees Stefan Popov Chairman Svetoslav Bozhilov Rumiana Chervenkova Yonko Grozev Alexander Kiossev Nelly Koutskova Nikola Vassilev Executive Director Georgi Genchev Financial Director Veliko Sherbanov Program Directors Nikolay Ilchev Assya Kavrakova Neda Kristanova Emilia Toncheva MISSION AND GOALS Mission Statement To promote, help develop and sustain the values, attitudes and practices of the open society in Bulgaria. Strategic Goal To support Bulgaria’s integration into the European Union from a broad civic perspective. -2- CONTENTS 2000 - Program Profile ....................................... 4 2000 - Financial Profile ....................................... 6 COLPI ........................................................... 10 LGI ............................................................. 13 Civil Society Program ........................................ 15 Roma Program ................................................. 17 East-East Program ............................................ 19 Women’s Program ................................................ 25 Education Program ........................................... 26 Network Education Programs of the Open Society Institute and Other Partner Organizations ................................ 33 European Integration and Regional Stability Program ................................. 37 Public Health Program ...................................... 38 Open Program ................................................. 43 Libraries Program ............................................ 45 -3- During 2000 OSF - Sofia operated in a stable political environment. The government steadily pur- sued the path toward European integration and NATO membership and was invited to start negotiations for full EU membership. With the end of the crisis in former Yugoslavia, new opportunities emerged for participation in the process of promoting regional stability and cooperation. The Foundation continued to develop the essential mechanisms for successfully carrying out a pro- active policy. All programs reassessed their priorities to further strengthen and update them in view of the changes in the social and political environment. The Foundation continued to work in its traditional priority areas – democratic society, education, public health, European integration – but the emphasis was put on promoting citizens participation in the decision-making process, sustaining public debate and upholding the rights of the socially disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Equal treatment of minorities, and especially of the Roma minority, remained on top of the Foundation’s agenda. A special center was set up in Pazardjik, one of the most densely Roma-populated areas, to provide support and serve as a mediator between Roma and the local administration. There are ten such centers across the country but this one was most successful in becoming a true community center. It has earned good reputation among the local Roma community and, in the same time, built up successful partnership with the local administration. A team of trained experts at the Center provide consultation services in education, health, youth activities, and employment. The Center also offers computer courses, free English language courses, preschool education for Roma children. Its major aim is to facilitate the social adaptation of Roma and make them more competitive on the labor market. The Center collaborates successfully not only with the local administration but with many local NGOs as well. The Roma Program continued promoting Roma culture. It sponsored a three-day National Festival for Roma Music and Songs, financed a nationwide tour of a play, “Roma Story,” in the areas with mixed population, published a children’s book with Roma fairy tales. With the support of the COLPI Program a Center for Consumers’ Protection was set up to uphold citizens’ rights. The Center was nominated to participate in the National Council for Consumers’ Protection and will be given the right to initiate its own proposals for introducing changes in the consumers’ rights protection legislation. The Foundation supported a project for establishing effective mechanisms for citizens’ control over the state and local administration. The Bulgarian Civil Society and Legal Initiatives Association established a center for collecting citizens’ claims against administrative acts and bringing such cases to court. The Association trains law school graduates in administrative law, analyzes normative documents and makes recommendations to the relevant ministries and administrative bodies. The Center made more than 30 proposals for changes in legislative documents and filed approximately ten lawsuits before the Supreme Administrative Court. One of the most discussed reforms was the one guaranteeing personal information protection of prisoners’ mail. OSF – Sofia sustained its previous efforts for training local administration. It supported a project of the Center for Institutional Studies for the development of a comprehensive long-term program for staff training and qualification on five topics: local governance, local finance administration, civil society partnership, local economic development , and project designing and fund-raising. This was a five-week course held near Sofia with the participation of 30 Bulgarian mayors. -4- A team of experts was formed under the Local Government Reform Program to provide quality training for developing and managing projects financed by the EU structural funds, which are about to be open for Bulgaria. Successful project implementation largely depends on a thorough understanding of the EU common policies and the ability to link them to regional and local strategic planning. The experts developed a comprehensive three-month training program for 15 trainers in regional policy and human resource development, EU employment policy, EU structural policy and structural funds, and EU social funds. Those trainers are committed to carry out similar courses for local administration throughout the country. European integration remained high on the Foundation’s agenda. But it was understood that this process still lies ahead and will bring about many problems due to widespread ignorance as to its social costs and side effects. OSF – Sofia supported information campaigns through 22 radio stations nationwide for carrying out public debates and raising citizens’ awareness as to how this process will affect every sphere of public life. An information network was set up designed to provide information for regional media on European integration issues with the participation of leading analysts and representatives of government institutions. A special discussion forum was initiated to analyze the situation on national and regional level. It will identify problem areas in the context of the ongoing negotiations for accession, and areas for project development. Even before the recent elections in Yugoslavia that forced Slobodan Milosevic to step down, OSF – Sofia worked toward promoting Balkan stability through strengthening cooperation and partnership among regional NGOs. The Foundation sponsored a conference “Toward a Peaceful Transition in Yugoslavia” that brought together organizations from Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia for exchanging ideas and good practices on peaceful transition toward democracy. During 2000 a project for introducing European integration as a compulsory subject in high schools curriculum was successfully launched. A comprehensive program has been also developed to integrate European problematic in traditional subjects – history, philosophy, geography, and literature. The project gained the support not only from relevant ministries and parliamentary committees. Regional inspectorates and municipal departments of education became active participants. Such an attempt to reorganize educa- tional content and make it consistent with contemporary requirements seems to be unique not only for Bulgaria, but for the region as well. Under the Public Health Program a comprehensive strategy for addressing ethnically specific dis- eases has been developed including concrete steps for preventive medical treatment sensitive to minorities’ cultural and religious characteristics. Bulgarian cities are still not easily accessible for the disabled. OSF – Sofia supported projects tar- geted to meet their needs. The projects aimed at gathering institutional support, raising public awareness and encouraging architects and engineers to comply with internationally recognized standards assuring the disabled an easier access to the urban environment. Together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Foundation set up a working group of representatives of more than thirty NGOs. The group developed a draft law for gender equality, including mechanisms for guaranteeing equal opportunities for men and women and their equal access to all political, economic and societal spheres. This is a unique attempt given the fact that the whole gender problematic is still not popular in Bulgaria and the magnitude of the work that remains to be done in this field has only started getting recognition. Georgi Genchev Executive Director -5- 2000 - FINANCIAL PROFILE In 2000 the activity of the Open Society Foundation – Sofia was supported by the Open Society Institute with a grant of 7.8 million US dollars (16.3 million Bulgarian leva). This amount

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