Description
The project addresses the issue of substandard housing and poor sanitation. The project aims at addressing the issue by bringing together the relevant NGOs in a coalition. The setting up of a coalition of organizations will help establish a common platform, keep more stable contacts, enable closer cooperation and encourage the involvement of the NGOs in local decision-making on housing. First, organizations fighting substandard housing will be identified, informed and involved and Decent Home Coalition will be set up by 30 organizations. Second, regular meetings will be held with the local authorities to promote the coalition and the advocacy strategy will be developed. Third, a round table will be held with the stakeholders to raise awareness and initiate actions to improve housing. Finally, the team members of 3 NGOs will be trained to boost their advocacy skills. The project will benefit not only the NGOs involved but also the users of their services.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the issue of substandard housing and poor sanitation. Within the project a Coalition for Improvement of the Housing Conditions in Bulgaria “Decent Home” was successfully established and proved to be stable and active consolidation of organizations with expertise in manifold areas. The Coalition was founded by 18 organizations, later on the number of members grew to 24 and will continue to grow. Thanks to this, now putting forward a proposal or reasoned opinion on behalf of a large group of organizations, representing different sectors (NGOs, business and local government), each with different expertise or profile, makes it much more visible, valuable and significant in front of the decision-making bodies and for the society at large. In addition, the coalition is a platform for sharing of knowledge and experience related to housing. The members of the coalition were able to acquire knowledge and increase their capacity to participate more actively in the dialogue on significant housing issues both on the local and national levels. Habitat Bulgaria, as an initiator and coordinator of the coalition, became more visible and positioned itself as one of the leading NGOs in the housing sector. Thanks to the active media campaign, we had the opportunity to publicly discuss various important housing issues. At the end of the project, more than 126 publications have been made related to the Coalition, incl. 104 internet publications, 15 publications in printed newspapers and magazines, 3 TV reports and 4 radio broadcasts. In addition, the Facebook page of the Coalition has more than 317 likes, more than 11 600 unique users who have seen or commented on the page, and more than 1860 unique users who were engaged by clicking or sharing information from the Facebook page.
Summary of bilateral results