	Center of Women’s Studies and Policies Sofia 1000, 38 Tsar Asen street, phone: ++359 2 981 04 73, E-mail: cwsp@cwsp.bg (+359 2) 980 6265, e-mail:cwsp@cwsp.bg

Project: Gender Mainstreaming in Public Policies and Programs

About the project

The main purpose of this project of CWSP, financed by the Canadian International Development Agency through the Governance Support Program, is to increase the contribution of civil society to the elimination of gender disparities in Bulgaria by involving Gender Mainstreaming in public policies and programs.

Gender mainstreaming represents one of the important strategies for ensuring gender equality. Explicitly endorsed by UN Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), gender mainstreaming is a strategy in full development. Gender mainstreaming is different from previous approaches to equal opportunities, which focused mainly on the implementation of specific measures in favor of women. Although measures to promote women’s rights are important, they are not sufficient to overcome structural inequalities in economic, social, political and family life. Gender mainstreaming has to be implemented in co-operation by all social actors involved in combating poverty and social exclusion in the fields of employment, social protection, justice, education, health, public finances, economic policy, etc.

The laws for promoting equal opportunities can be implemented and produce practical effects only through the support of a serious change of mentalities and attitudes concerning equal opportunity principles at the individual level, as well as at the level of existing institutions, and of society as a whole. However, the implementation of the legal framework for gender mainstreaming remains difficult due to the lack of proper institutional mechanisms and methods.

Therefore, the objectives of this project focus on the development of capacity of local governments, trade unions, regional agencies for economic development, and NGOs to mainstream gender in policy development and implementation through exchange of experience with the Center for Partnership and Equality, (Romanian NGO partner) in gender mainstreaming training and policy development. Local partners to CWSP are the National Association of Municipalities (NAMRB), the Women’s Union with the Confederation of Labor Podkrepa (PCL), The Bulgarian Association of Regional Development Agencies (BARDA).

The project aims to improve the capacity of local decision makers to apply and monitor gender mainstreaming in various social sectors. To achieve this objective were implemented a number of activities. A sociological survey was conducted to identify the awareness and knowledge in the application of gender mainstreaming. Based on the results and with the help of the developed materials were trained over 80 representatives of the partner organizations as well as other local NGOs. The training materials and guide developed by the Romanian partner were adapted by the CWSP experts, who also prepared practical exercises, cases and examples relevant to the Bulgarian situation. CWSP extended its website with a new page serving as an electronic information resource center on gender mainstreaming in Bulgarian. The project was finalized with a National Conference on Gender mainstreaming in Sofia to promote the results of the project as well as good practices presented by experts from EU. An International Expert Meeting was held immediately after the National Conference as a forum for exchange of the experience on gender mainstreaming among experts from the Netherlands and Italy and SEE countries (Romania, Serbia and Macedonia).

The project was implemented between August 2004 and August 2005 with Project Manager Tatyana Kmetova.

More about the activities: survey, trainings, webpage, conference and expert meeting

This page has been developed with financial contribution from the Canadian International development Agency (CIDA) through the Governance Support Program.

The opinions expressed here belong to the Center of Women’s Studies and Policies (CWSP) and do not reflect the official position of CIDA.

Partners

Sustainable partnerships are of vital importance for the success of this project. CWSP cooperates with the Partnership for Equality Center (PEC), Bucharest to maximize the efficiency of the project by sharing knowledge and experience on gender mainstreaming and training in its methods. The local Bulgarian partners are the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) thorugh its Committee on Women’s Participation in Local Self-Governance, the Women’s Union to the Confederation of Labor “Podkrepa”, and the Bulgarian Association of Regional Development Agencies (BARDA). The trainings were also attended by local NGOs.

The Center for Partnership and Equality, Bucharest, was established in 2002 as a not-for-profit organization, committed to mainstreaming the principle of equal opportunities for women and men into the public policies, as an integral part of democratization and creation of an open society, in order to re-define the status and to improve the condition of women in Romania. To this end, PEC advocates for rights such as: non-discrimination against women; the right to education; the right to be free from violence; equal opportunities for women and men; reproductive and sexual rights; a gender-inclusive approach to development; economic rights for women; women’s active involvement in public life. The main activities of CPE include research and trainings as well as information campaigns related to different aspects of the social and economic life of the country. The staff includes experts in gender studies, legal studies, sociology, psychology and psycho pedagogy, political science, philosophy, journalism and public relations.

More about CPE: www.cpe.ro

For contact: info@cpe.ro

The Bulgarian Association of Regional Development Agencies and Business Centres (BARDA) is a non-governmental organisation including independent regional development agencies and business centres in Bulgaria. It was established in 1997 by 7 Regional Development Agencies within the framework of the EU “Vocational Training and Measures for Employment Promotion” Programme and now has 21 members – agencies situated in all regions of Bulgaria. Their activities are directed predominantly towards the development of the regional economies and the SME sector. Among the rich variety of projects which BARDA implements, the organization is also involved as a partner in actions with special emphasis on gender equality issues in the sphere of business and labour market, such as the STERE/O project, financed by the EC (2004–2006), focused on gender equality in professional life.

More about BARDA: http://www.barda.bg

Project Coordinator for BARDA: Dimitrina Todorova, Executive Director, barda@barda.info

The Women’s Union to the Confederation of Labor Podkrepa (CLP) was established on 26 May 1995 by activists of the Confederation and since then its work has been focused on the problems of women within the structures of CLP and raising their awareness about their rights in employment. The Women’s Union is a member of the National Council on Equality between Women and Men at the Council of Ministers, as well as of the women’s networks of the International Confederation of Free Trade unions (ICFTU) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Women’s committees are established with the national federations, national unions and regional unions of CLP.

More about the Confederation of Labor “Podkrepa”: www.podkrepa.org

Coordinator for the Women’s Union to the Confederation of Labor “Podkrepa”: Maria Dimitrova, President of the Women’s Union, union_women@podkrepa.org

The National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) was established in 1996 by 94 Bulgarian municipalities, and since 1999 all 264 Bulgarian municipalities have joined the NAMRB and thus became the only nationally representative local government organization. NAMRB represents and defends the interests of local governments in Bulgaria and develops efficient partnerships with the central government and other Bulgarian and foreign organizations, works for a strong, responsible, and sustainable local self-governance and provides services for increasing the competence and capacity of the local authorities. It is a member of international and European organizations of local authorities and regions and works in partnership with a number of associations of local authorities in Bulgaria and Europe.

Gender equality is one of the aspects of the work of NAMRB. To the Association is established a Standing Committee of women in local governance which represents it in the National Council on Equality between Women and Men to the Council of Ministers. The priorities of the Commission include lobbying for legislative changes to achieve better representation of women in governance as a key factor for the development of civil society, creating a network between women MPs, mayors and chairs of Municipal Councils, information exchange of good practices for cooperation between women from municipalities, NGOs and the business.

www.namrb.org

For contact: namrb@namrb.org