At the beginning of March 2023 the implementation of the project “Dream UP Aim UP!- Integrated community-centered services for prevention of child marriages of Roma in Bulgaria” began. This project aims to contribute to ending the child marriages in Bulgaria by equipping the professionals with community-centered methodology for prevention of harmful practices, encouraging Roma girls for personal achievements beyond the borders of isolation and changing attitudes to pre-modern social norms in excluded Roma communities.
On the basis of a field study in the Roma communities and research of good practices in Bulgaria and the EU, the project team will develop a toolkit for the prevention of child marriages in Bulgaria. The created methodology will primarily help professionals from newly established state-funded “social service community work”, as well as local authorities and non-governmental organizations.
The two-year project is implemented by an association including the C.E.G.A. Foundation – leading organization and the partners ROMA-LOM Foundation and ZAKRILINTISI Association.
The long-term ambition of the project is to create an accelerator for change in isolated Roma communities pushing forward the modernization processes overcoming the pre-modern social norms and family models and making a difference in the perception about the roles and the rights of the girls and women in isolated communities.
Inclusion4schools Project
C.E.G.A. Foundation is involved as a partner in the Project „School-community Partnership for Reversing Inequality and Exclusion: Transformative Practices of Segregated School”, which will be performed in four countries – Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Albania for a period of four years (1 November 2020 – 31 October 2024). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 101004653.
The consortium is led by John Wesley Theological College (Hungary). Further members of the consortium are the Regional Centre for Information and Scientific Development (Hungary), C.E.G.A. Foundation (Bulgaria), J. Selye University (Slovakia), Oltalom Charity Society (Hungary) and Albanian National Orphans Association (Albania).
The project aims to strive against the logic of exclusion in education and against the systemic (re)production of inequalities in segregated schools and communities.
The central objectives of the proposed action are to support and coordinate community schools and to create a place and culture of sharing between different communities by initiating and coordinating the convergence and synergies of local, regional and transnational communities. The expected impact of the project is to contribute to the European initiatives and interventions that aim at reversing inequalities.
The consortium of the Inclusion4Schools project will cooperate side-by-side with the Horizon2020 – Research and Innovation Action projects from the Central European region.
You can follow the professional actions and the ongoing activities of the project on the following website: www.inclusion4schools.eu
CARE for TRUTH – Challenging Anti-Gypsyism by Roma Empowerment for Counteracting Disinformation and Fake News in Bulgaria
CARE for TRUTH proposal struggles to strengthen the fight against the overwhelming wave of anti-gypsyism through empowering both the leadership and change-actors at local level in Roma communities to counteract to disinformation as generator of anti-Roma attitudes and prejudices in Bulgaria, by:
Developing methodology and building digital/media literacy and skills of 80 key change-players to detect and challenge disinformation and anti-Roma discourse;
Expanding the capacity to challenge anti-Roma disinformation with at least 1400 Roma people, and 1000 children reached out by a school-based model.
Proposing strategic national policy measures against anti-gypsyism in the context of detecting disinformation and fake news under the new Roma Integration Strategy after 2020.
Empowering 15 strong Roma speakers and overcoming the Roma absence in media and public debates on antigypsyism.
Key project results & impact are expected in:
Empowerment of Roma community through the invested capacity in Roma leadership – the 60 change-players, the created critical mass of 800 new potential multipliers and the progressing consolidation of the Roma Standing Conference;
Strengthening the Roma-led response to anti-gypsyism by the promoted policy response – national strategic measures against anti-gypsyism, and by the new Roma speakers, addressing the macro-society for dethroning anti-Roma myths and fake news.
The project is implemented in partnership with the following partners:
APPLIED RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATIONS FUND, Bulgaria;
ROMA-LOM Foundation, Bulgaria;
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRACY, Bulgaria.
Equality League: Consolidating a platform for community organising, action and reaction against discriminationProject
The project is supported by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union.
September 2018 – August 2020
The aim is to fight against discrimination of oppressed communities, with focus on Roma, LGBTI people and people with disabilities, by uniting the efforts of different communities and organisations in a joint multi-dimensional action.
Objectives:
To consolidate and build the capacity of a coalition of organisations, actors and activists working with different oppressed communities with focus on Roma, LGBTI and people with disabilities;
To build a movement against discrimination, engaging both upcoming leaders from oppressed communities and allies from the majority with focus on young people;
To challenge harmful stereotypes, leading to discrimination, by training, cultural and political events, allowing also for cross-community interactions;
To insure political response and participation of often discriminated communities in policy issues, related to discrimination of Roma, LGBTI people and people with disabilities;
To test, assess and disseminate a model for a joint action of oppressed communities and their organisations against discrimination.
The project is implemented in partnership with the following partners:
Youth Club Roma-Stolipinovo Association, Bulgaria;
Listen Up Foundation, Bulgaria;
Centre for Community Organising, Slovakia
The innovative character of the project is in the unique cooperation between Roma, LGBTI and disability organisations, working to consolidate an even bigger anti-discrimination movement. The title of this movement – The Equality League, is also somewhat innovative, as in Bulgarian language it is a word-play with the Marvel comic-action series.
Global Education Goes Local is a 3 years long-term project that brings together 7 partners to foster commitment of European citizens to take an active role towards meeting the challenges of the interdependent world we live in. The project will engage over 30 small localities (under 50 000 inhabitans) where the main intervention of the activities will take place, involving young people. Raising awareness, capacity building of local structures and taking actions are part of the process foreseen in the project. New methodologies of engaging young people in global issues are to be generated, especially by adding pop culture. And finally a capacity building component is included for the local institutions involved in the project, on how to run quality global learning process with local communities and especially young people.
Specific objectives:
To foster the understanding of the interconnectedness between the developing countries and the European Union on the successful implementation of the SDGs with focus on goals 5, 11 and 12 among European citizens living in small localities;
To increase the awareness of citizens in small localities, and especially young people, on the local and global dimensions of the SDGs with focus on goals 5, 11 and 12;
To generate and promote new approaches and methodologies of engaging young people in global issues, particularly by utilising pop culture;
To build capacity of actors in small localities to run quality global learning process with local communities and especially young people.
The project is implemented in international partnership with the following composition:
Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives/C.E.G.A. Foundation, Bulgaria – leading organization and the following Partners: