Bulgaria: national coalition meeting “NGO Development for Refugee-Led Organizations in Support of Refugee Integration”

As part of its effort to support refugee-led initiatives working on refugee integration, on 9 January 2022, the NIEM team from Bulgaria organized a national coalition meeting “NGO Development for Refugee-Led Organizations in Support of Refugee Integration”. It was held in Sofia and it was organized by Multi Kulti Collective, Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants and UNHCR. 

The event gathered 11 participants representing different Bulgarian stakeholders, as well as refugee community leaders from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Yemen. As these refugees recently established their own independent non-governmental organization (NGO) – Refugee Advisory Board - the meeting introduced them to the legal requirements for NGOs in the country, informed them about best practices in management, programme development, communications, etc. The meeting put a particular focus on formulating their priorities and strategies, internal documents, all with the intention to be more effective when supporting other fellow-refugees in their integration in Bulgaria. The event also presented concrete funding opportunities which could be used for refugee integration activities related to social support, culture, employment, etc. Finally, the event provided space for discussion and debate on different points of view, thus strengthening the benefits of diversity. 

The event was organized within the project “NIEM - National Integration Evaluation Mechanism” funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the EU.