Tanya Goranova, as IRBF representative, participated in the "Seminar for creation of a Bulgarian NGO platform for development" and "International Development Conference", organised on 23 and 24 of March 2006, in Sofia, with the help of representatives of "Trialog" and "Concord".

The seminar participants worked hard in order to create a sustainable and working NGO network, which will be acting on national level in collaboration with state institutions for providing official development aid (ODA) to third world countries.

In the first day discussions, the follow-up steps of the Bulgarian platform were created. The general conclusion was that it is very important that NGOs work together to fulful the main goal of ODA, whcih is: poverty reduction, protection of human rights, and in particular - rights of women and children, education development and struggle for democracy.

The second day was devoted to presentations made by representatives of the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs and Ministry of Economy, who declared wheir willingness to support and help the platform. They promissed that by the end of the summer there will be a clear official ODA guidelines and recommendations on how the state will work with NGOs in this area.

It was also underlined, that after the accession of Bulgaria to the EU, there will be a number of projects involving Bulgarian NGOs, in collaboration with European organisations and institutions, as well as with organisations from development countries, which are priority for Bulgaria.

For more information:

 The MG-Platform web page
 Семинар на Триалог в България: НПО-платформа в помощ за развитието
 About "Trialog"
 About "Concord"