Red Cross / EU Office

Bulgarian Red Cross

Address:

76 James Boucher Blv.
1407 Sofia
BULGARIA

Tel: + 359 2 816 4703
Fax: + 359 2 816 4611
Email: secretariat@redcross.bg
Website: www.redcross.bg

Legal Basis:
Mission:
In accordance with its mission statement (last updated in 2000 as part of its Strategy 2010) and revision of priorities, the Bulgarian Red Cross works in the following areas: disaster preparedness and disaster response; health and social services, including promotion of blood donation, first aid training, programmes for elderly (home care programmes, soup kitchens, shelters, daily centers and advocacy); participatory approaches with community mobilization (participatory community development) and social mobilization (food banks, which were also utilized during disaster situations); organizational development, including volunteer management; youth Red Cross activities, including health education, AIDS and drug prevention, violence prevention, prevention of trafficking, peer-to-peer education modules and many others; services to refugees and migrants; mountain rescue; water life saving; tracing service; corporate fundraising and charity initiatives; promotion of IHL and humanitarian values, etc.

Constituency:

Organisation/planning:

Development plan: The national HQ and the regional branches of the Bulgarian RC produce annual plans and reports.

The progress report and financial report are presented by the Board to the General Assembly, convened every year (Electoral General Assembly gathers once in four years) and a National Control Commission of the Bulgarian RC also provides its report. Since 2007 a new model of branch assessment was introduced and tested, where assessment is made by a mixed team of experts from the HQ and branches. The tools include desk study, review of documents and reports, interviews with staff and volunteers from the assessed branch as well as with partners, such as local authorities and other NGOs, for gathering external views on the branch performance and image. The team produces a report with recommendations, provided to the branch to take measures for improvement.

Leadership:


Challenge:

Bulgaria has gone through a very difficult transition process since 1989. Despite the flat tax of 10% introduced in 2008, the living standards remain low, due to financial restrictions imposed by the currency board in order to assure financial stability. The low standards and weak reinforcement of the laws created a socially polarized society with a very limited growth potential. 56% of the population falls behind the process of economic change, among them the unemployed, unqualified, illiterate, elderly and poor people. The country is facing negative demographic change, with 5 years less life expectancy then the EU average, a child mortality rate which is twice as high as in other EU countries and demographic decline of -5.5/1000 compared to the EU average of 0.6/1000. The strong rural-urban migration flow continues, accompanied by emigration to other countries. The country was strongly affected by a series of devastating floods in 2006 and is generally vulnerable to earthquakes.

Paid staff:

+/- 300

Volunteers:

13 136, 5592 youth and 7617 adults

Domestic Activities

The overall work in support of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants is carried out and coordinated by the Refugee-Migrant Service /RMS/ of the Bulgarian Red Cross, established in 1997.  The Bulgarian RC provides the following services:
  • Social consultations;
  • Financial and material assistance to vulnerable persons of concern;
  • Additional Bulgarian language lessons for refugee children;
  • Assistance in finding and renting accommodation;
  • Assistance in job placement;
  • Free access to health services, psychological and psychiatric support;
  • Educational assistance and recreational activities with refugee children.
BRC is an implementing partner of the National Program for Integration of Refugees since 2006. An important part of the work is directed towards mobilizing and strengthening the capacity of the refugee and migrant communities to work towards finding solutions for their common problems and needs.

The RMS of BRC is financed by the UNHCR.
The Bulgarian RC is entitled by Bulgarian legislation to promote voluntary blood donation and has no functions related to blood collection. The promotion of voluntary blood donation is one of the Bulgarian RC health education priorities. The Bulgarian RC is striving to introduce world standards in safe blood giving and safe blood in order to positively affect the blood donor culture as well as to disseminate the contemporary and modern concepts of voluntary and non-remunerated blood transfusion.

A strategic goal of the Bulgarian RC is to increase the share of voluntary blood donation in the country by 100% by 2010 thereby covering the needs of the medical institutions and services in blood and blood products.
The Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) was created in November 1933 and is the only of its kind in Bulgaria. 32 rescue teams and 650 volunteers, using 15 specially trained dogs the rescuers render aid in case of emergency to the victims. 50 paid rescuers and 58 volunteer physicians work in the MRS for management of rescue activities, to manage equipment, to support 24-hour rescue outposts, etc.

The Water Life Saving Service provides training in water life-saving activities. Its role is to unify, coordinate and lead the activities of various institutions involved with saving human life in water accidents. The WLSS trains between 700 and 800 life guards annually and organises Young Life Guard courses for 800 children every year. Approximately 100 000 people, mainly children, pass the life saving basic training annually. Organises courses for International Boat drivers, rescue divers, lifeguard instructors and risk assessment.
The Bulgarian RC organises regular seminars and trainings on International Humanitarian Law and RC/RC principles, in particular for military and security forces, authorities, journalists, students at schools and universities and Red Cross staff and volunteers from different organisational levels. These activities aim to improve the public's knowledge of humanitarian law and the Fundamental Principles of the Movement as well as to promote the better understanding of the role of the emblem. Since 2008 the campaign for protection of the emblem is a priority area for the Bulgarian RC dissemination efforts.
All Bulgarian RC branches organize basic courses in First Aid to candidate drivers. Each year they attract about 130,000 participants. In addition to that, First Aid courses are one of the core activities of the Bulgarian RC – Youth, targeting pupils in schools and university students.

Training of home care takers and social assistants, now expanding by organising Training of Trainers. Training of medical nurses. Training of volunteers.

The Bulgarian Red Cross Youth runs a variety of training modules, most of them using a peer-to-peer approach, such as modules on prevention of human trafficking, drug prevention, AIDS prevention, disaster preparedness, road safety, youth leadership, and different modules for vulnerable children from marginalized groups, etc.
The Age Awareness and Advocacy project is part of the Home Care programme in 9 regions of Bulgaria. In 2004 older representatives of 4 regions were trained in the participatory approaches for work with older people. Self-help groups were established and implemented micro project activities. In 2005 new 5 regions joined the project. The focus since is placed on advocacy. Older people were trained in how to plan and implement advocacy campaigns and how to work in networks with partners, including media. At the end of 2006 a training of trainers was organised for representatives of the project regions. The aim is to have a team of trainers who will expand the project to new municipalities in their regions. In 2007 each of the regions organised training events to involve new members and extend the project. At the end of 2007, 455 active older volunteers were involved in the project, presently covering 33 municipalities.
See the sections on Elderly and Social Inclusion
The Bulgarian RC is one of the largest providers of First Aid training in the country. It has more then 50 training centres around the country and more then 140 professional trainers in First Aid, providing training to more then 100 000 candidate drivers each year and thousands of other categories of the population, including specialised courses. The Bulgarian RC is a very active participant in the European Road Safety campaign.
Thousands of events related to health education are organised each year. The “Health” newspaper of the Bulgarian RC also plays an important role in health promotion. The Bulgarian RC Youth organises hundreds of events related to promote a healthy lifestyle each year.
Within Home Care Program: the Bulgarian RC operates 6 Home Care Centers in 6 towns of Bulgaria. Nurses and social assistants provide daily health and social care in the homes of the most vulnerable older people.  
ReliefIn emergencies the Bulgarian Red Cross reacts immediately with material and human resources. BRC has an auxiliary role to the State during disasters, accidents and catastrophes and supports neighbour National societies and international appeals and operations by providing relief and staff - members of the IFRC Regional Disaster Response Teams.
During the major floods in Bulgaria in 2005 – 2007 the Bulgarian RC addressed a National appeal to raise funds and relief items and rendered assistance to more than 60 000 vulnerable people from the affected regions of the country. During the floods BRC also received international support through different mechanisms and institutions.
The Bulgarian Red Cross has one Central National warehouse and three inter-regional warehouses, connected to a unified telecommunication system - the HQ. One national and five regional volunteer disaster response teams are trained and operational. The members of these teams follow regular refresher courses and are always prepared to react in times of disasters, accidents and catastrophes.
The Bulgarian Red Cross is working to raise preparedness within the society in order to respond properly during disasters and is a partner of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and its Civil Protection Directorate. BRC is included in the State Plan for Protection of Society and supports the State in the field of humanitarian activities in times of disasters, accidents and catastrophes.
The Age Awareness and Advocacy project aims at changing public opinion concerning older people and in parallel to provide opportunities for active groups of older people to advocate for themselves and others.
Participatory Community Development with Roma and other marginalized groups, aims at creating conditions for people of different ethnic and religious origin (mostly in rural communities) to unite and find a way to improve the situation in their communitytogether by overcoming prejudices and finding common solutions. Also applied for organisational development of Red Cross grass root structures.
The Bulgarian RC is a licensed provider of 11 types of social services, and is providing the following services:
  • Food banks, collecting, preparing and distributing free meals for vulnerable groups, mostly older people
  • Home Care service provided to more then 350 older patients, with chronic diseases and permanent disabilities
  • Social patronage (meals cooked and delivered at home – elderly, disabled and sick people)
  • 9 soup kitchens around the country
  • Social service bureaus in 3 cities, providing babysitters and care givers for sick people
  • Homes for older people
  • Shelters and daily centers for children and older people
  • Social shops, train station support centers for people with disabilities and older people
  • Telephone hotlines for psychological support in 3 cities, social reception rooms in 2 cities
The tracing service aims at restoring the lost contact between family members, separated by conflicts, natural disasters and migration and exchanges Red Cross Messages.
The Bulgarian Red Cross Youth (BRCY) was founded in 1921 and re-established in 1990 as an integral part of the Bulgarian Red Cross. BRCY has approximately 5000 volunteers in 244 clubs present in all 28 regions of Bulgaria. The highest forum of BRCY is the National Assembly, which elects the President of and the Executive Board of the BRCY. The Youth Department at the Bulgarian Red Cross provides administrative support to the BRCY.

The activities include work on first aid (training, Youth emergency teams, First Aid school teams, participation in FACE, first aid for children, HIV/AIDS prevention, drug use prevention, harm reduction among intravenous drug users, tobacco use prevention, healthy food habits promotion, violence prevention, traffic risk reduction, peer education in schools and orphanages, work with institutionalized children, promotion of reading skills among youngsters, promotion of humanitarian values and humanitarian law. BRCY organises trainings, information campaigns, summer camps, and an international exhibition for disabled children.

Personnel

The Bulgarian Red Cross has been providing relief in times of disasters to most of the neighbouring National Societies in the Balkans and beyond. The Bulgarian RC Mountain Rescue units operated in Turkey during the devastating earthquake in 1999 and in Bam, Iran in 2003.

Other deployments include:
Membership in RCRC networks

Country Information

Red Cross/EU Office