Child Abuse Programme Grants (2009)

Eastern Europe

• Applied Research and Communications Fund

  To prevent bullying and violence (physical and virtual) among Bulgarian school children by introducing a prevention programme to raise knowledge and awareness of this issue. It will help children to communicate safely using the Internet and other technologies. FreE-Learning Centres will be established in three municipalities and the violence prevention course will be promoted in schools. Since the course will take place during “free” classes, it will also help to diminish the risks from unsupervised activities outside school during this time. USD 224,707 (Over three years)

• Centre Dardedze

  To establish and support a professional network providing services for abused children and their families, as well as advocating for the best interests of children in the Zemgale area of the city of Riga in Latvia. NGOs and state agencies will work together to establish multi-level responses to child abuse in this area and to bring about change to the local community’s beliefs and attitudes towards child abuse. USD 193,117 (Over three years)

• Centre for Inclusive Education

  To improve child protection through a pilot project in four Bulgarian municipalities. There are two parts to the project: 1) introducing internal child protection policies in local organisations working directly with children, such as municipalities, service providers, schools and NGOs; and 2) coordinating the work of these organisations to ensure appropriate reactions to child abuse and to provide a safe environment for children. The project’s activities will conform to the international Keeping Children Safe standards. USD 215,171 (Over three years)

• For Our Children Foundation

  To review existing policies and practices in Bulgaria for the protection of children raised in the family environment and to suggest strategies for improvement. The project will create and test pilot child protection standards for family substitute services. It will establish a network of stakeholders advocating for child protection standards in out of- home child care – foster care, adoptive families and kinship care – and will work towards getting them officially recognised and adopted by national authorities. USD 248,205 (Over three years)

• International Social Service – Bulgaria

  To improve child welfare in the Smolya district of Bulgaria and to support the process of deinstitutionalisation by developing accessible services that meet the actual needs of children and their families. These services aim to prevent institutionalisation, violence and social exclusion. The project will apply a district-wide approach in planning and developing social services and if it is successful, the model will be replicated in other districts. USD 296,272 (Over three years)

• National Network for Children Association (NNC)

  To improve the protection of children’s rights in Bulgaria by developing a strong coalition of advocacy NGOs that can influence local and national policies and practices for children. The coalition – led by the NNC, an alliance of more than 20 NGOs – will unite the efforts of a number of civil society actors, such as the media and universities. In addition to developing NNC’s organisational capacity, one of the key objectives is to influence change to at least two child-related policies. USD 172,790 (Over two years)

• Nobody’s Children Foundation

  To put child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation on the public agenda in six countries of Eastern Europe. This will include awareness- raising, training of judges, prosecutors and the police, and working directly with first-time parents on non-violent child upbringing. The project evolves around established partnerships and a well-functioning network of multi-disciplinary NGOs focused on child abuse and neglect, in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland and Ukraine. The project is coordinated by the Polish Nobody’s Children Foundation. USD 1,138,298 (Over four years)

• Opportunity and Protection Association

  To support the development of a comprehensive child protection model in Haskovo municipality in Bulgaria and to ensure the sustainability of the model through its adoption by the local authorities and by increasing the capacity of professionals to apply it. The model has several elements including: 1) empowering children to protect themselves from abuse; 2) helping professionals and citizens to recognise signs of abuse and to report it immediately; and 3) assisting victims of abuse. USD 122,344 (Over three years)

• Terre des Hommes Lausanne

  To elaborate a nationwide child protection model, Child Protection Safety Net (CPSN), in Albania and Kosovo to protect children from trafficking, violence, exploitation and neglect. Under the CPSN model, Child Protection Units will be established in each municipality. Schools, communities and parents will be involved in the prevention, detection and referral of cases of child abuse, and state institutions and NGOs will be properly trained and able to apply child protection standards. USD 207,128 (Over three years)

• Tulip Foundation

  To cluster grants around the common theme of deinstitutionalisation that would result in overarching changes for children in Bulgaria. This is a re-granting initiative driven by the need to respond to the disproportionate number of children placed in institutions and the lack of family and community support available to stop this practice. The Tulip Foundation will fund small-scale projects aimed at protecting children from neglect, abuse and abandonment and to prevent subsequent institutionalisation. USD 500,000 (Over three years)

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