The  project was implemented between January and October 2009. In ten months CWSP suceeded to reach over 300 women, participants in different activities of the project:

• Organisation of 5 half a day awareness raising seminars for women voters to participate more actively in the elections for the European Parliament in five towns in Bulgaria (Vratsa, Veliko Turnovo, Silistra, Plovdiv, and Bourgas);
• Publication of a flyer;
• Organisation and provision of three training workshops for prospective women candidates from across the political party spectrum in Bulgaria who will run for the parliamentarian elections in mid-2009;
• Publication of a guide;
• Organisation of an round table in the National Parliament on the results of the female representation in the 2009 elections for the National and for the European Parliament.

     The project has been implemented with the financial support of Rosa-Luxemburg-Shtiftung, Germany

5 seminars were held as follows:

• 13 March in Veliko Turnovo co-organised by the civic Association "Vazmozhnosti (Opportunities)" with the participation of Petya Stavreva (EPP)  and 60 local women - political parties activists, NGO activists, professional women, journalists etc. The seminar was held in the main hall of the Veliko Turnovo Municipality building and was opened by Mrs. Stefka Taneva, Deputy Mayor of Veliko.
• 14 March in Silistra co-organised by the Women's Association "Ekaterina Karavelova" with the participation of 48 women of Bulgarian and of Turkish origin from Silistra and small towns and villages in the region (e.g. Alfatar). Mrs. Marusia Lubcheva (PES) was invited and confirmed her participation but was not able to attend it at the very last moment. The seminar was held in the premises of the local Tourist information centre.
• 20 March in Vratsa co-organised by the CCI Vratsa in the premises of the local Commerce and Industrial Chamber with the participation of the European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, Mrs. Hristina Hristova, ex-minister of labour and social policy, Mrs. Zinaida Zlatanova, head of the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria with 24 local professional and business women.
• 26 March in Burgas co-organised by the Bulgarian Association for the Promotion of Citizens Initiatives with the participation of Rumiana Jeleva (EPP) and 30 local women in the hall of the City Public Library.
• 27 March in Plovdiv co-organised by the FGO "Diva" with the participation of Filiz Fysmenova (ALDE) and 50 local women in the hall of the Maritsa Hotel. The local partner published information on the project and on the seminar in its newsletter.

212 women (registered in presence lists) participated in all 5 seminars. All seminars were widely covered by local (printed and electronic) and by national media.

The preparation of the trainings took place in February-April 2009. All women's groups in the main political parties were contacted and invited to nominate participants. As a result 72 women leaders and activists from the following political parties: United Agrarians, Union of Democratic Forces, Green Party, the Greens, GERB, Bulgarian Socialist Party, VMRO, United People's Party (UPP), Gergiovden, Movement for Rights and Freedoms paricipated in the trainings.

The objectives of the trainings were to strengthen skills of women candidates to plan and run election campaigns,to build alliances among them, to raise awareness on the election law and to help them understand the role of female MPs in the political process.

Before the training tha participants excpected to learn how to formulate clearer electoral strategies and make their political messages more comprehensive, how to organize better electoral campaigns and be more successful with media.

The trainees identified the following needs after the trainings:

• Need of more sources of information on women's political involvement in the world and more examples from practice of women with a successful political career;
• Need to rise self-confidence of women who participate in the political process in Bulgaria;
• Need to deepen the knowledge in the area of policies targeting women and on gender equality policies;
• More knowledge on electoral laws and practices, on electoral systems and implementation of quotas for women as one of the possible measures to rise women's representation in politics.

Recommendations from participants in all events and forum can be summarised as:

• More work in political parties to empower women in party structures and in general;
• Introduction of voluntary quotas in political parties and establishment of good practices of keeping them;
• More work to introduce measures to promote women' political participation at all levels.

Our assessment of the situation in the parties:

• The partner structures (women's unions in the political parties) are at different stages of institutional and organisational development by following criteria - authority before the leadership; place in the party structure; organisational structures at local and regional level; external and internal communication; engagement of the members to the goals and the work in these unions; participation in the process of nomination of candidates in the lists; participation in the process of formulation and evaluation of policies.
• Lack of target oriented party policies for women's empowerment inside the political parties through:
• Recruitment of appropriate candidates and members;
• Regular and focused on specific issues training and equipment of the female activists with skills and knowledge;
• Promotion of women for career development in party structures.

The final project activity - the concluding event - happened on 29 October 2009 in a format of a round table entitled "Women in Charge: participation of Bulgarian women in the elections for the European and for the National Parliament". The CWSP partner in this activity was the office of the President of the 41^st National Assembly (the Parliament) Mrs. Tsetska Tsatcheva. She also accepted to be a patron of the event.

The aim of the event was to discuss the women's representation in the legislative and executive power after the election for the European and for the National Parliament in mid-2009, as well as the possible changes in the electoral legislations as a measure to rise women's participation in decision making. The invitees were women MPs, women party leaders, representatives of women's unions in the political parties, political scientists, representatives of women's NGOs, academics, journalists.

The forum took place in the main building of the National Parliament and was opened by Mrs. Tsatcheva who presented the work of the international network of women leaders of national parliaments. Rumyana Kolarova presented the results of women's representation after the elections and analysis of the process of women's participation in decision making. Roza Dimova presented the results of the project, while Tatyana Kmetova presented the latest data on the status of women in Bulgaria in comparative terms and moderated the discussion. Over 50 participants discussed the status of women and their impact on public policies; the existing frameworks of the female participation in politics, the need of developing the public attitudes as well as of parties' leadership; are women in politics part of the political elite or not, etc.