Bulgaria: Cultural diversity in the Balkans

Promoting tolerance and cultural diversity in Bulgaria and the Balkans through dialogue and education. These are the aims of Access Sofia, a Foundation based in Bulgaria?s capital that counts with a myriad of partner organisations both national and European.

Since 1992 Access Sofia has endeavoured to build up Bulgaria?s civil society and enabled local democracy through the creation of a network of NGOs and government agencies that facilitates the free exchange of expertise and information within and across borders. Access organises training courses to empower the most disadvantaged groups within Balkan civil society and teaches journalism courses to encourage the spread of independent media to the region.

Special attention is paid to issues of high public sensitivity such as freedom of speech and corruption, which in Bulgaria are themes close at heart to civil society. Cracking down on corruption is the aim of their Anti corruption pressure group that investigated and reported on alleged corruption cases in Bulgaria to raise awareness among the public and encourage institutional action. Access Sofia collaborated with the Open Society Institute, an important Hungarian foundation committed to the values of democracy, in this zero tolerance towards corruption campaign achieving a number of significant results. Their investigations produced substantial data that was used by the government to build an anti corruption strategy and a parliamentary anti corruption commission.

Access?s integration of local values with an international perspective is reflected in it?s long list of partner organisations and donors which includes important international institutions such as the U.S Agency for International Development and the World Bank as well as local human rights NGO?s and cultural associations. In total it counts with more than 50 partners and 30 donors from 20 different countries.

www.access-sofia.org