Bulgaria MARIO links up with stakeholders in Bulgaria

Project : MARIO 7 Jun 2010 | begging street activities child trafficking

Sofia, Bulgaria: From 31st May to June 3rd Terre des hommes regional team in Hungary visited its partner ‘Neglected Children Society’, affiliate member of ECPAT in Bulgaria in a study visit to better understand the Bulgarian context and meet with stakeholders in the framework of MARIO project.

Over two intensive working days, Tdh and ECPAT Bulgaria held meetings with key stakeholders such as the Unit for children of State Police in their premises (see picture), Homes for immediate accommodation of children, the NGO ‘Alliance for Children and Youth’, Crisis Centre ‘Hope, Faith and Love’ in Sofia, the national network of NGOs for children.

The reinforcement of links between key stakeholders was also at the agenda of the visit, and MARIO partners were received by the Secretary General of the State agency for Child Protection, Ms. Darinka Iankova, who welcomed the concrete initiatives taken in the framework of MARIO project, particularly on the investigations conducted in Greece to detect Bulgarian children in street situation in Greece.

Ms. Radiona Nikova, head of the coordinating unit of the State Agency for Child Protection, also responsible for international initiatives, underscored the importance of such an approach and stressed that a multi disciplinary exchange of information between authorities in both countries of origin and destination for children exploited and/or trafficked abroad was of great interest for the SACP.

In that regard, a meeting with the ‘Alliance for Children and Youth’, a Bulgarian NGO operating the daily centre “Youth 16+” allowed MARIO partners to create new synergies between NGOs in Bulgaria working to protect children in street situations.

The national coalition of NGO for Children through its executive director, Mr. George Bogdanov, also welcomed the idea of integrating trafficking and exploitation in the agenda of the coalition as specific expertise and knowledge was lacking in that field. [PC]