With its accession to the European Union (EU) in 2007, Bulgaria accepted to participate in the European development policy, which occupies a central place in the Union's external policies. It aims to eradicate poverty, support sustainable growth, protect human rights and democracy, promote gender equality and help address environmental and climate challenges. The EU and its members provide more than half of the world's official development assistance.
As a member of the EU, Bulgaria is committed to developing its own development policy to help countries less well placed than it. In 2017, Bulgaria, together with other member states, adopted the New European Consensus on Development. It combines different approaches to ending extreme poverty based on 5 priorities:
- People
- Planet
- Prosperity
- Peace
- Partnership
The right to development is an inalienable human right under which every person and all peoples have the right to participate in, contribute to and benefit from economic, social, cultural and political development in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.
Article 1, 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development.
Our achievements in the field
Partnerships
BPID is a partner of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the formulation and implementation of Bulgarian development cooperation policy;
Fight against poverty
The Platform is the Global Coalition Against Poverty's (GCAP) point of connection and partnership;
Cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
For the sake of Bulgaria's development policy objectives, we maintain intensive cooperation with both state institutions and the private sector. We are members of CONCORD, the European Confederation of NGOs for Relief and Development.
Policy development
We contribute to the development of key development policy documents and make key recommendations, including through our involvement in the development of the annual AidWatch Report;
Civil dialogue
In 2017-2018 we implemented the Civil Dialogue for Development project in connection with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union;
Journalism for Development
We have been running the Journalism for Development competition since 2018.
Strategic objectives
In order to achieve its mission in the field of international development cooperation, the BISD has identified the following 4 interrelated strategic objectives:
- To ensure broad representation of the interests of Bulgarian NGOs in national and international development cooperation;
- To participate in the formulation of development policies at national and international level by establishing an effective partnership with relevant government institutions and thus ensuring transparency in the delivery of Bulgarian development assistance;
- To assist communities in the countries receiving Bulgarian development assistance to implement good practices aimed at eradicating poverty and building democratic institutions under the rule of law;
- To work for increased awareness of Bulgarian society about the problems of developing countries and the benefits of international development cooperation through development education, global education and other forms of values-based education.
