Description
The project addresses the need to raise the financial literacy of the public and bring together all the stakeholders for more efficient cooperation. The project aims at setting up an intersectoral partnership network of 10 members, collecting and submitting data about financial literacy for a future national strategy. First, an intersectoral partnership network of 10 representatives of the stakeholders (NGOs, the business, the institutions, the academia) will be set up. Second, an online platform “the Bulgarian map of Financial Literacy” will be created including a map of partners, resources, personal financial literacy and news. Third, a round table on financial literacy in Bulgaria will be held. Next, the white paper on financial literacy in Bulgaria will be prepared. Finally, the network and the online platform will be presented to the stakeholders. The project will benefit the network members, the local community, the national authorities, NGOs and the media.
Summary of project results
Financial literacy is a factor for individual and public prosperity. At the same time, the efficiency of the steps to raise literacy depends on the extent of cooperation between the stakeholders and easy access to information and educational resources. There is a vacuum in Bulgaria in this respect. The project of Financial Literacy Initiative Foundation addresses these problems. An inter-sectoral partner network was set up under the project with 44 representatives of state institutions, businesses, the media, the academia, NGOs and professional organizations. More participants joined the network than the planned 10. Two general meetings of the network took place and specific results were achieved such as active participation in the international initiative Global Money Week. The analysis called the White Paper of Financial Literacy in Bulgaria was drafted, published and disseminated. Due to the higher interest in the analysis, it was published in a larger circulation than the planned. The analysis was evaluated as particularly useful and it would be used for the development of institutional policies on financial literacy as well as for a proposal for a national strategy. The online platform with resources (
www.finansovogramoten.bg) was set up. The platform and the application for assessment of personal financial literacy and training called “Me and money” are unique in Bulgaria and will be actively developed in the future as well. The platform has a database of resources in Bulgaria related to financial literacy. The public events under the project, a round table and the presentation of the platform (the final event) contributed a lot to a better public awareness of the project and its deliverables and media coverage was more extensive than planned, i.e. more than 32 times the project was covered by the media. The project was presented at the international conference on Life Skills and Financial Literacy: Bulgaria and Europe. The participants evaluated the inter-sectoral partner network as particularly needed. The network will continue to run after the project end. The project contributed to establishing the reputation of the Foundation as a leading NGO in the area of financial literacy. As a result, the Foundation undertook new projects which would ensure its future sustainable development.
Summary of bilateral results