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On April 7, 2011, Closing Conference on results of the 3-year work (2008-2010) of Bulgarian NGOs on projects financed by the Fund for NGOs under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area was held in Sofia The three donor countries - Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - have donated nearly 2 mln. euro to support projects in three areas:
The conference was opened by Mr. Tomislav Donchev, Minister for management of EU funds. He 'expressed satisfaction with the high degree of utilization of allocated funds (96% average for the Fund) and thanked the beneficiary organizations, and operators of the Fund for NGOs in Bulgaria - Foundation for Local Government Reform and Environmental Partnership Foundation. "Operational programmes define different roles of civil society organizations - as service providers. NGO Fund to the EEA Grants enables NGOs to return to their eternal essence - to express the interests of citizens”, the Minister said. H.E. Tove Skarstein, Ambassador of Norway to Bulgaria, welcomed the conference participants, added that site has visited many of the projects onsite and has received positive feedback for both results and the need of the Funf for the development of the NGO sector in Bulgaria. At the forum several projects in each of the priority areas were presented. Yonat Sybian, NGO Fund - Romania, executive director of the Foundation for Civil Society Development, Romania, presented the performance of the Fund in Romania. Krzysztof Jan Dzięcielak, Financial officer, Office of the EEA Grants, presented the intention of the three countries - donors to continue with the support of projects of Bulgarian companies and NGOs in the period 2011 - 2014. 10% of funds granted to Bulgaria will be allocated to support civil society and NGOs will be eligible candidates in all program areas: conservation and environmental management, climate change and renewable energy, civil society, human resource development and social development, protection of cultural heritage, and support for research and scholarships. The conference was attended by over 100 NGO representatives from across the country, representatives of Council of Ministers, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and Ministry of Environment and Waters.
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