A very exciting year has passed, in which we have managed to adapt to the situation and have our successes. In the year in which we celebrated the 15th anniversary, we recall 15 successes we achieved in 2021:
First of all, we continue to help many children and families. More than 140,000 children and 76,000 families have been supported by our member organizations, which is a great effort, because if some families are supported by one or two food packages, we help other children and parents to get back on their feet every day.
In the new parliament we have 32 MPs who are defenders of children. We had elections to the National Assembly three times in one year and we conducted three campaigns Become a Defender of Children! – a total of over 210 candidates signed the declaration pledging to be advocates for children.
Many of our advocacy priorities over the years have already found a place in the legislative program of the ruling coalition. Only the topics of juvenile justice are missing, but we will be able to make them part of the new government’s program.
We were ruthless with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to get the children back to school. Thanks to our advocacy efforts, 564,000 children are back in the classrooms, or 82% of all students in grades 1-12, so this is a huge success for the Network.
Through our online channels we have reached an audience of nearly 2 million people who follow us and are informed by us about the problems of children.
We have created over 150 press releases, analyzes, comments and materials, we have over 50 participations in TV and radio programs. We have expanded the circle of our media partners by focusing on regional media. In 2021 we have nearly 500 media coverage of our initiatives, events and positions, which is a kind of record for us.
In addition to our traditional events Notebook, Golden Apple Awards and Voice it, we have created several new campaigns and initiatives, such as “Together for Children“, which attracted more than 200,000 people to our cause for children’s rights.
We created the Certificate “Child Friendly Company”, which marked the beginning of our work with the corporate sector and three of the largest companies in Bulgaria – Lidl, UnicreditBulbank and A1 were awarded with it for their responsible work for children and families.
We have developed and presented our new advocacy tool, in which we monitor the state budget and the costs incurred by the state for the children of Bulgaria. Representatives of the leading political forces took part in the presentation of the Instrument for Financial Investments in Children and its analysis, in the debate “How much does a child cost Bulgaria”, and the live broadcast reached 10,000 people.
More than 2,000 children, 900 families and 700 staff and volunteers were supported by the National Children’s Network’s Emergency Families and Specialists Fund.
1365 children and young people received the dream book for Christmas through the campaign “A child is waiting for magic. Become a magician – give him a book!
Many donations for children and families reached members of the Network: we distributed over 6,000 pieces of chocolate desserts; together with the Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Bulgaria we distributed over 90 beds and mattresses to children in extreme poverty living in Family-type Accommodation Centers and families in five settlements in the country; we also distributed equipment to 50 children to continue their online education; we distributed over 200 packages of formula to needy families with babies.
We distributed many more donations of food, appliances, desks, furniture and more.
We held an online conference of the Legal Aid Network on children’s rights during the pandemic.
The Legal Aid Network has further expanded its activities, with today we have 14 leading lawyers and legal specialists in children’s rights and we are conducting 10 strategic cases for children’s rights.
If you want to be a part of our good deeds, in 2022 become a monthly donor of nmd.bg/dari
