On 14 and 15 May the final conference was held in Bulgarian town, Panagyurishte in the frame of «Break the silence project- a campaign for awareness, prevention and protection against domestic violence and violence based on gender». The mayor of the municipality of Panagyurishte Nicola Belishki, commissioner Blaga Kraycheva, head of regional directorate of interior in Pazardzhik, Petko Shotlekov, Chair of District Court Panagyurishte, Snezhana Stoyanova and representatives and students from the cities which involved in the campaign.
The event opened with the local cheerleading team’s performance.
-We hold this conference in this city for two reasons. The municipality and project coordinator in the city Sylvia Bobekova contributed alot to the project. There were a lot of activities related to our porject in public, media and at schools. Moreover Panagyurishte is a city with rich history and culture, said Valentin Lazarov, president of the National Association of Municipal Clerks in Bulgaria and project manager.
«I am happy with the presence of young people in the hall, because we have to work together against the problem of domestic violence, starting from the family. Silence really should be broken, we can achieve good results. Panagyurishte municipality is actively involved in this process and will continue to do so in the future, «said Mayor Nicholas Belishki.
He also thanked Norsensus Mediaofrum representatives in the hall for allocating resources and time to share their experiences.
In addition to presentations about legal framework, participants presented good examples of activities carried out in different cities during the project period.
The representatives of Norsensus Mediaforum, as partner of the project, presented shared the experiences and best practices in Norway on the topic of domestic violence.
The project is carried out by National Association of Municipal Clerks in Bulgaria in partnership with Norsensus Mediaforum. It aims to reduce violence based on gender by raising awareness and knowledge among the victims of violence based on gender, vulnerable communities and the society as a whole.
Implementing in Bulgaria with leading Norwegian experience in creating and conducting media campaigns for prevention of violence based on gender through increasing the recognition and visibility of the problem among the victims and the society and to promote zero tolerance of such violence.
Specific objectives of the project:
-to multiply the Norwegian experience in creating and conducting media campaigns in 10 cities of the country through the established teams /local coalitions/, which will become cores to achieve the objectives of the project in the planned regions;
-to create conditions for victims of domestic violence (DV) and violence based on gender (VBG) to share their stories about domestic violence through personal involvement in the campaign “Break the Silence”;
-to inform general public about the processes and possibilities for prevention and protection of DV and VBG victims;
-to conduct a media campaign for intolerance towards domestic violence (DV) and violence based on gender (VBG) and to engage the society to cope with the problem;
-to build sustainable models of communication, dialogue and partnership with institutions, who realize the government policy on protection and prevention of DV and VBG victims, NGOs dealing with the problem and the local administration.
