Seventh summer advocacy camp of Roma medical students
 Veliko Turnovo, July 31 2015
The last day of the already traditional (seventh edition) summer advocacy camp of Roma medical students. It is a week in which students communicate informally and learn new things – about field work, social dimensions of medicine, vulnerable groups. At noon in front of the Municipality was the peak of the week - a great show, presented by the participants in the Program for Roma Students in Medical Universities and Colleges in front of the Municipality with message boxes accompanied by the sound of Ravel’s “Bolero”. “Help others!”, “”We” is more than “you and I””, “To be good makes a man great” – those are only part of the messages. Afterwards – already inside the Municipality building - a round table was organized by the “Amalipe” centre, on the problems of the healthcare system in the towns and rural communities. The students shared observations and experience from their field work. Three до шге student mentors – Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova and Dr. Krasimir Romanov from BFPA, and Dr. Mariela Kamburova from Pleven Medical University took active part in the meeting.
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BFPA participated in the Annual meeting of the National Network for Children (NNC)
 Veliko Turnovo, June 18-21 2015
From 18th to 21st June in Veliko Turnovo the National Network for Children (NNC) held its Annual Meeting and General Assembly. It was a dynamic, multi-layer event, which gave a chance to its over 200 participants to express themselves, to share, to learn, to establish partnerships.
During the first two days BFPA was represented at the event by Ralitza Zgalevska who took part in the thematic working group “Child and youth participation”. The definition of CYP was established within the working group and sub-groups were formed to work on the determined priority activities. The aim of the working group is to achieve a shared understanding of CYP among the members of the Network, to elaborate a model of cooperation between the children and youth on one hand, and the NNC on the other, as well as changing the attitude of the general public towards child and youth participation.
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Third UN Conference on financing for the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2020
 Addis Ababa, July 13-16 2015
The Third UN International Conference on Financing for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2015-2020 took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 13th and 16th of July. UN representatives, ministers, parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organizations (CSO) gathered to set the main goals for development and the means for their financing. In the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The main goals for the 2015-2020 time frame are achieving gender equality, women empowerment and ensuring access to SRHR for women and girls as a whole, as well as finding the financing for achieving those goals. In other words – according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and its UN partners, it means access to contraception for 225 mln. women has to be ensured for the program period , as well as almost 40 bln. annually for sexual and reproductive healthcare.
The attending CSO’s main concerns are the focusing on the economical side of the matter, rather than the fact that the underlying principles of SDGs are irrevocable human rights, which they state in this declaration The final outcome document
Our participation in this year edition of TEDхMladostWomen
 Sofia, May 30 2015
TED is a non-profit organization dedicated to ideas that Deserve dissemination and propagation. TED started 25 years ago as a conference in California, and grew up as global movement that supports ideas that change the world via different initiatives. The annual TED conference invites world leading minds and activists to deliver a talk not longer than 18 minutes. Afterwards their presentations are given for free to TED.com. Among TED speakers are Bill Gates, Al Gore, Melinda Gates, Jane Goodal, Elisabeth Gilbert, sir Richard Branson, Isabel Aliende, Gorden Brown, Jane Fonda and many other inspiring personalities. The annual TED conference is held in California and is aired worldwide. TEDGlobal is conducted every year in Oxford, UK. Various media TED initiatives include the TED.com, channel, where every day new TEDTalks are loaded and the Open Translation project that provides subtitles and the opportunity TEDTalks to be translated form volunteers in many languages worldwide. TED established the annual TED prize given to outstanding figures. The prize give the opportunity people to realize their ideas; TEDx, that gives to different people and/or groups to create local TEDx events under a strict license and the TEDFellows program, that helps innovators all over the world to become part of the TED community and enlarge the impact of its remarkable projects and activities.
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Together with the Roma medical students at the 89th primary school in Sofia’s Drujba district
  Sofia, May 11 2015
We share the event through the eyes of Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova: “The district of Drujba is far from being elite one, and so the 89th primary school does not fall into the category of the “elite” schools. They call it – you guessed it – “the Roma school”. Roma medical students had a chat with the Roma students of the school – 5th to 8th grade - on relevant topics – what their dreams are, where they would like to continue their education, what is their most wanted professional realization. Despite the school being in the capital of Bulgaria, as well as in distant rural areas, there are a lot of cases of early school dropouts, early marriages and therefore lack of opportunities for further development. After the children spoke, the medical students told their personal stories. Without exaggeration and omitting the truth – “as is”, both charged and charging emotionally. “If they tell you that you are good for nothing, don’t believe them”, “At the university you’ll meet interesting people, just keep studying”, “You can do it, be persistent – if you want to become a good football player, you have to train daily, even in rainy weather. The same is with school”, “Learning new things continues throughout your life, whether you want to be a doctor, a programmer or a master chef” are just a part of the messages the children received from us. If we were able to influence the perceptions even of just one of them, we have achieved our goal…. A huge “Thank you” to all colleagues. Personally, Zlaty managed made me cry (after she began crying herself)….. and we finished the event with the film “We are not an exception” .
Report Card 2015 presented by the National Network for Children shows poor progress in child policies – marked “3.20”
 Sofia, April 15 2015
For a fourth year the National Network for Children (NNC) presents its “Report Card 2015: What is the Government’s average grade for child-related policies and actions”. The goal of the document is a review of the government’s progress in fulfilling the commitments it has taken. On April 14th the Grade book was presented to minister Kalfin and other government officials at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The “Healthcare” section of the Report card was presented by BFPA’s Executive Director. On April 15th the Report Card was presented in the Museum of Sofia to media and civil society representatives. The “Healthcare” group discussion was moderated by BFPA’s Programme Manager, with which for a fourth year we demonstrated our empathy and support for the creation and the presenting of the Report Card.
218 children and adolescents had the opportunity to express their point of view about the of the commitments and recommendations in the document. They took part in four focus groups and completed an online survey. This way their opinion and the grades they put became a part of the Report Card, which for a second year gives them an opportunity their voice to be heard.
The grades for 2015 are as follows: | General principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child | 3.06 | | Family environment and alternative care | 2.61 | | Healthcare | 3.31 | | Education | 3.62 | | Justice | 3.30 | | Overall grade | 3.20 |
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Sofia, August 4 2015
