Twenty graduates of the Bulgarian School of Politics (BSoP) from different classes underwent a three-day training on providing help and support to refugees in Bulgaria. The training “For a home away from home” took place from December 9 to 11 in Borovets. After applying for the training, representatives of the civil quota of graduates of the School were approved for participation. Among them were directors and employees of non-governmental organizations, a director of a social services complex, a university professor, state and municipal officials, a judge, lawyers, a social worker, a dentist, etc.
The three-day training program was developed based on an analysis of the group’s needs and included lectures, discussions, a networking panel and working in 2 small groups on case studies. The program started with an open lecture by the Chairperson of the State Agency for Refugees Mariyana Tosheva, continued with “Human Library” and meeting refugees living in Bulgaria, with topics such as “Reactions to crises with refugees and migrants”, “Lobbying and advocacy”, “Storytelling “. A special place in the program was also devoted to good practices for helping and supporting refugees. These were shared both by guests in the program and by the participants themselves. In small groups, BSoP alumni worked on learning assignments related to crisis response, lobbying and advocacy, impactful storytelling, and provoking action. The trainees also participated in a team effectiveness simulation game. Among the lecturers in the training were Iva Partsaleva from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bulgaria, the psychologist and psychotherapist Maria Mihailova, the chairwoman of the “Mission Krile” foundation Diana Dimova, the co-founder of the “Centre for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria” foundation Diana Radoslavova, the head of the “Media and Communication” department at the NBU, Prof. Desislava Boshnakova.
Project “For a home away from home – development of the capacity of civic leaders to help and support refugees in Bulgaria” is implemented with financial support provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. Its main objective is to find sustainable forms of support for refugees and to build mechanisms to respond to refugee crises.
More details about the project can be found here.