On  the 25th of September in Karlovo and on the 1st  of October 2015 in Veliko Tarnovo  were held the information and awereness raising events under the project.

The Center of Women's Studies and Policies and the partners' organizations: Association "Vazmojnosti", Veliko Tarnovo and Youth and Civil Initiatives in the Rose Valley, Karlovo, presented the results of the project and shared the lessons, learned from the meetings for self assessment of the family carers needs, as well as from the self help groups, that were piloted in the three towns from February to June 2015.

In Karlovo was shared the initiative of the social workers, who participated in the self help groups under the project, to enlarge the practice of  self help groups and to contribute for the selforganizing of one more self  help group of the parents of children with dissabilities, who visit their social center, operating under project  "Bettre together !"  in Karlovo.

Awereness raising events gave opportunity for open disussions of the recomendations of carers from Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Karlovo to employers, local and national authorities. Most of the recomendations towards the municipal Social Services Directorates in Karlovo and in Veliko Tarnovo, were on improving the access to and the information for the planned and the operating social services, that carers could use in municipalities.  On the other hand, carers shared that some of the procedures for receiving for example medical goods are very complicated and people with dissabilities still have difficult access to them. Criteria for access to the programm Personal Assistant were also discussed and participants shared their proposals how they could be improved, nevertheless the scope of the programm in the country is very small.

On the  28 th of October 2015  was held the final informational event in Sofia (House of Europe, 124 Rakovski street )

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The event gathered carers and representatives of  the Social Services Directorate in the Municipality of Sofia, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Justice, the National Social Security Institute, the Agency for People with Dissabilities, the Economic and Social Council, as well private services' providers in Sofia and NGOs.  

The event gave opportunity to project partners to make an overview of the project activities and the results, experiences and recomendations, shared, thus making the problems of carers in one small, one medium and one big city in Bulgaria more visible. Special attention was givven to the recomendations of carers for improvement of the draft Law on Persons and Measures for Support,  which were shared with the representatives of the Ministry of Justice and NGOs ,that worked on the draft law.

The informational events in the three towns provoked many vivid discussions on  carers'needs and the responses of the social system and on the creteria for access to services as well as on the opportunities social security system to envisgae the risk of long term care, as well as on the instruments for empowerment of carers to slef help and the benefit of the social solidarity in Bulgarian society.

The project „ Empowerment of Family Carers" (Care4care) № BG05/1081 is  implemented with the financial support of  The NGO Programme in Bulgaria under the Europena Economic Area Finacial Mechanism 2009-2014.

Responsibility for the information and views set out in this webpage lies entirely with the author  Center of Women's Studies and Policies and under no circomstances does not reflect the official opinion of the EEA Finacial Mechanism and the Programm Operator of the NGO Programme in Bulgaria