Also in Bulgaria is the British actor Barry Keoghan, who is an ambassador for children in care. Before becoming a movie star, he had 7 years in the foster care system and lived in several foster homes
Today, at the residence of the British Ambassador H. Pr. Nathaniel Copsey, the official visit to Bulgaria of the Rt Hon David Lammy MP, UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs was marked. At the invitation of the British Embassy, the Executive Director of the National Network for the Children Georgi Bogdanov, as well as other representatives of civil society organizations, including NNC members – For Our Children Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages Bulgaria Association and CONCORDIA Bulgaria Foundation, took part in the meeting.
The occasion for the visit is the launch of the new global campaign for a complete reform of childcare in relation to the current challenges facing the modern world. The meeting was also joined by the new Ministers of Labour and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov, Minister of Health Silvi Kirilov, and the Deputy Minister of Education Natalia Miteva. The meeting was hosted and chaired by HE Nathaniel Copsey, British Ambassador to Bulgaria. Actor Barry Keoghan also attended the lunch, alongside UK Envoy for Gender Equality, Alicia Herbert.

All guests had the opportunity to give a short speech on the topic of global childcare reform.
Georgi Bogdanov commented in his speech that the joint efforts of the state and the children’s organizations in closing the large orphanages, as well as building the child protection system, has been a huge step forward over the years.
“Twenty years ago there were over 30 000 children in orphanages in Bulgaria and social work as a concept was unknown. Children were moved from home to home with just a simple phone call. Today we have a child protection system and less than 3,000 children live in residential services, and the living conditions are significantly better, he said, noting that today we already have further problem areas for children and families that the NGO sector is working on.
- We continue to have high child poverty – 1 in 3 children live at risk of poverty.
- There is no good integration of children from vulnerable communities.
- The construction of a children’s hospital and the overall improvement of health care for children is extremely important.
- Another serious problem is the high number of children dropping out of the education system.
“The biggest problem is misinformation and propaganda that is directed against children’s rights. Because of this negative process, key strategic documents such as the Child strategy, and improvements in areas such as health and education have been stopped or delayed. On the front line here again are the children’s organizations that are fighting against fake news and organized attacks that confront children’s rights with parents’ rights,” said the Executive Director of NNC.
Mariana Taseva from For Our Children Foundation spoke about deinstitutionalization and foster care, and Valeria Georgieva from SOS Children’s Villages spoke about the importance of support for care leavers. Stanimir Georgiev from CONCORDIA Bulgaria commented on the challenges of social programmes aimed at supporting young people and their families with a focus on Roma families and children at risk of separation.
Other civil society organisations, supporting children and families and protecting the rights of the most vulnerable, also joined in with addresses. Georgi Simeonov from “Hope and Home for Children” spoke about the prevention of child abandonment, and Mirjana Malamin-Siriiski from “Maria’s World Foundation” – about the prospects for supporting people with disabilities.
The Minister of Labour and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov gave an overview of Bulgaria’s efforts to de-institutionalize and reform child care.UNICEF’s representative in Bulgaria Christina de Bruyn spoke about the international context and efforts to reach the most marginalized children to ensure that no child is left behind, with a particular focus on Roma communities and children with disabilities.
Lunch was provided by Maria’s World Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. David Lamy personally met with the people at the Foundation before the formal part, and the meeting ended with applause from the attendees to Mary’s World for the warm welcome, delicious food and good hosting.