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Description
The project aims to find sustainable forms of support for refugees and to build mechanisms for responding to refugee crises. More than 133,000 refugees have entered Bulgaria since the start of hostilities in Ukraine until the end of March 2022. Of them, as of March 31 this year, more than 61,000 people remained in Bulgaria, according to the data of the State Agency for Refugees in Bulgaria. This is the largest wave of refugees in the country''s history, more than the refugees from Syria and Afghanistan in all of 2015, when it was the peak of the then migrant crisis. Almost the entire burden of reception, accommodation, assistance and support for refugees from Ukraine falls on non-governmental organizations and volunteers. The project "For a home away from home - developing the capacity of civic leaders to help and support refugees in Bulgaria" foresees a training program that will build and increase the capacity of representatives of civil organizations - alumni and experts of the Bulgarian School of Politics "Dimitry Panitza" (BSoP) to provide support to refugees and migrants; will establish partnerships and create a network of trained people to work together, exchange ideas and good practices in supporting migrants. The project also foresees measures to inform and involve the entire BSoP alumni community in solving the problem. End users will be refugees, migrants seeking asylum on the territory of Bulgaria.
Summary of project results
The main objective of the project was to increase the capacity of civic leaders, graduates of the Bulgarian School of Politics (BSoP) and to create a sustainable network of trained people to provide help and support to refugees and migrants in Bulgaria.
In fulfilment of the goal, a three-day training was organized and conducted for twenty BSoP alumni, representatives of non-governmental, professional organizations and civic leaders. The trainees were selected according to an established procedure. Based on the motivation questionnaire completed by each of them, an analysis of the training needs of the group was prepared. According to its conclusions and based on the expertise and experience of BSoP, the training program was developed. A specific methodology was chosen - a mixture of lectures and practical exercises, which are in a system with each other. The training program was tested through a focus group to ensure the achievement of the training objectives - increasing the capacity of the trainees through the development of skills, new knowledge, familiarization with good practices, building successful partnerships and a support network for refugees in Bulgaria. Through knowledge tests and a questionnaire at the end of the training, the successful design of the program and its successful implementation were confirmed.
The implementation of the previously created communication plan provided publicity of the project. A public lecture was held, which was broadcast online in national media and communication channels of BSoP and a state agency. It gave up-to-date information on the problems of refugees in Bulgaria and wide visibility of the project. Through a specially created project website, presentations, text, and photo materials describing good practices are available for those who wish to increase their knowledge and awareness on the topics of the training and of what has been done so far for this group.
The experience of BSoP and the direct observations of each of the participants involved in the project did not require changes and reorganization of the originally planned tasks. The project was completed in its entirety and within the set time limits.
Thanks to the efforts, new contacts were made within the project, both between BSoP graduates in different years, and between them, and state and civil structures directly involved with refugees and migrants in Bulgaria. Contact between people from the built network continues in the created closed group in one of the social networks. The project gave knowledge and visibility to alumni with different expertise but equally keen to work with refugees and migrants. One of them was already a trainer of the newly established Refugee Board in Bulgaria.
Members of the BSoP team gained detailed knowledge about the needs of this group of people and thanks to them developed and implemented a training program for refugees from Ukraine and other countries in Bulgaria.
As a result of the excellent communication campaign, we have reason to believe that a significant number of our more than 800 graduates and a significant number of people outside them know about the problems of refugees in the country, about good practices and experts who can support and help them.