Response to the COVID-19 Crisis and Post crisis period

Project goals:

  • Mobilizing and supporting the disability and human rights organizations and movements to be leaders of the day by providing adequate response to the crisis;
  • Supporting people with disabilities, their families and communities and develop guidelines on how to react and solve problems in situation of crisis;
  • Monitoring on how the measures introduced affect fundamental rights.

Activities:

  1. Providing support to people, CSOs, authorities: support people with disabilities, their supporters and CSOs on how to deal with the crisis situation, how to find the best solutions (mainly from a legal perspective), ensuring rights access, etc.
  2. Monitoring and gathering legal materials: support the establishment of a group of lawyers that will a) collect important cases for rights violations; and b) develop materials and statements how to respond and report such cases. We will promote these materials and aim to achieve a bigger outreach.
  3. Improving communication: put efforts in developing further the capacity of CSOs to speak to their communities. Another set of activities will be devoted to work with media and sharing the good and positive stories of CSOs.
  4. Researching the change: emotional and social response to the threat, anti-social tendencies (egoistical, self-concerned, preoccupied with personal losses and gains, discrimination) versus pro-social tendencies (empathy, solidarity, engagement, volunteering), political implications of the crisis, how people inform themselves and whom they choose to trust, expectations for the future.

Timeframe of the project: 01.05.2020 – 31.12.2022

The project is implemented by: Bulgarian Center for Not-for-profit Law (BCNL).

Total project budget: 250 000 USD

 Financed by: Open Society Foundations