The main challenges that the project addresses are: 

•Appreciation and understanding of article 12 standards among key stakeholder groups, such as prosecutors, notaries, mayors, medical experts, judges, academics, policy-makers. 

•The unfavorable existing legal framework in order to provide opportunities for exercise and enjoyment of human rights according to the person’s will and preferences as well as to develop practices and jurisprudence in line with the requirements of art. 12 from the UNCRPD 

• Need to constantly upgrade the capacity of the pilot project teams in terms of piloting supported decision making;

•Needs for sharing good and successful lessons learned with stakeholders on national and international level.

Main strategies to address the challenges: 

•Advocacy and partnership  

1) interaction with the government as providing technical support in elaboration of legal framework, monitoring initiatives related to UNCRPD implementation, elaboration and dissemination of official expert statements, legal articles, legal proposals, organization of events; 

2) involvement of new target groups among policy makers; 

3) expert support for the introduction of the values and standards of art. 12 in the jurisprudence within the existing legislation;

5) preparation of researches on specific aspect of the legal reform on guardianship; 

6) collect evidence based information from the pilot projects for development of the advocacy argumentation; 

7) ensuring the synergy between the advocacy initiatives and the pilot project outcomes in order to provide legal proposals that are in correspondence with the Bulgarian local context and specific need of each target group.  

 

•Capacity building

1) build up and upgrade the capacity of the pilot project teams on the concept of supported decision making through trainings and on-going legal support;

2) increase the knowledge on UNCRPD with a specific focus on art. 12 concepts among judges, academics and students through legal workshops, open discussions and debates;

3) increase the knowledge on UNCRPD and art. 12 standards and implementation among legal and other professionals;

• Knowledge upgrade and exchange 

1) to create a coherent training methodology, modules and tools for promoting the Bulgarian example on piloting SDM on national and international level; 

2) to create space for open discussion on the challenges when piloting SDM through intensive training of international and national interested parties; 

3) to share the know-how and experience of Bulgaria as an example model for shaping out the pilot projects and the legal framework on SDM through participation in various international events on the topic.   

•Gathering evidence based data and dissemination of information

1) to gather and summarize evidence-based data on the development of the pilot projects and the impact of SDM in terms of increasing the quality of life of the person; 

2) changing the attitude of the local communities and the wider public towards people with ID and MHP through various public-awareness activities; 

3) to communicate the issues related to guardianship and the new concept of legal capacity through media involvement and outreach; 

4) to gather civil society support on the need to change the existing legal framework.        

 

Timeframe of the project: 29 September 2014 – 30 October 2016.
The project is implemented by: Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) in partnership with Global Initiative on Psychiatry (GIP), Bulgarian Association of People with Intellectual Disabilities (BAPID) and National Organization of Mental Health Services Users (NOMHU).
Financed by: Foundation Open Society Institute, Switzerland