Birds in Bg
The project "Building an Inclusive Resilient Democratic Society in Bulgaria" (BIRDS in BG) is a partnership initiative of the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW), the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) and the Impact Drive Foundation (IDF), supported by the European Commission.
The project will contribute to building a sustainable civil society in Bulgaria by strengthening and developing the NGO sector, including strategic and long-term funding and capacity building, developed on the basis of research on the specific needs of small and local NGOs in Bulgaria working for social change, protecting, promoting, and raising awareness of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and European values.
The project partners – Bulgarian Fund for Women, Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law and Impact Drive Foundation have over 20 years of experience in grant making and capacity building of CSOs.
The project's target groups are the backbone of democratic society in Bulgaria – small, underfunded, CSOs that face pushback and attacks because they promote and practice EU values, fight for the rights of vulnerable groups, work to achieve gender equality, and uphold the rule of law. To increase their sustainability and strengthen the civil society sector, the project will:
- Provide needs-based financial support to CSOs in the form of two-year core support grants, ongoing rapid response grants of up to 6 months on security-related topics or unexpected circumstances and needs, and one-year grants for projects promoting the promotion of EU values and the rule of law, gender equality and fundamental rights, etc;
- Provides ongoing support and capacity building to civil society organisations in 3 forms:
– Comprehensive organizational development trainings,
– thematic capacity building and peer learning activities related to EU values, fundamental rights and the rule of law, and
– tailor-made learning labs based on the needs and involvement of different activists and CSOs.
The expected results of the project are nearly 140+ CSO initiatives supported by the grant and increased capacity of nearly 900 CSOs’ representatives. The sustainability of the project after the end of the EU funding will be ensured through the main activities of the three partners – grant making and capacity building of active CSOs in Bulgaria.
Project duration: 36 months.
Project start date: 1 February 2023.
Grant Contract: 101091529 – BIRDS in BG – CERV-2022-CITIZENS-VALUES CERV
EU funding for capacity building activities (BCNL): EUR 301 915.
Own contribution (BCNL): EUR 33 546.
The project "Building an Inclusive Resilient Democratic Society in Bulgaria" (BIRDS in BG) is co-funded by the European Union. This publication contains the views and opinions of the project partners, which do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Under no circumstances can either the European Union or the granting authority be held responsible for the content of this publication.
