Social Capital, Intergenerational dialogue,

Social Solidarity and Voluntary work

in our countries

Presented by:

the Bulgarian team

Government literally is the political direction and control exercised over the actions

of the members, citizens, or inhabitantsof communities, societies, and states.

A government can be classified into many types - democracy, republic, monarchy, aristocracy, and dictatorship are just a few.

Bulgaria is a unitary parliamentaryrepublic in which the mostpowerful executive position is thatof prime minister.

Political parties gather inthe National Assembly, whichconsists of 240 deputies elected tofour-year terms by direct popularvote.

The National Assembly has thepower to enact laws, approve thebudget, schedule presidentialelections, select and dismissthe Prime Minister and otherministers, deploy troops abroad,and ratify internationalagreements.

Social capital equals shared values.

Social capital is actually all the resources we gain through our personal and professional contacts and relationships.

These are, for example, information, ideas, business opportunities, human capital, trust, emotional support,

friendship and cooperation.

In the interaction between the government and the society, institutions step in. Examples of such are:

• The Ministry of Education and Science;• The Ministry of the Interior;• The Ministry of Health;• The Ministry of Culture;• The Ministry of Economy;• The Ministry of Justice;• The Ministry of Labor

and Social Policy;• The Ministry

of Physical Education and Sport.

The Constitution of the Republic of Bulgariaprovides protection and opportunities fordevelopment of all bulgarian children and youngpeople, an example of which is compulsoryeducation up to the age of 16.

The rights of all bulgarian children and youngpeople are guaranteed not only by theConstitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, butalso by the laws adopted by the NationalAssembly, such as:

• Child Protection Act;

• Pre-school and School Education Act;

• Vocational Education and Training Act;

• Higher Education Act;

• Law on Youth.

Apart from those laws, there are also other normativedocuments regulating the right and opportunities of childrenand young people for development,

education, social adaptation,

professional orientation, realization

and integration in the social life.

The youth policy is implemented at national and local

level by state, regional and

municipal

structures,

as well as by non-governmental organizationsworking on Projects for the implementation ofNational Strategies and Programs.

NPO

A Non-profit organization(NPO), also called Non-governmental(NGO),is a structure that is not partof the local or state, or federal government, but of private citizens as being platform for strong civil engagement.

Such organizations may be professional associations,foundations, multinational businesses, or simply groups with a commoninterest in humanitarian assistance activities.Their activity may be based oninternational, regional, national or local level.

NPO

An example of national NPOs based in Bulgaria is “Child andSpace”, which serves the society by supporting children atrisk and children with special needs and their families,organizing activities in daily centers and providingphycological support.

An example of an international NPO, operating also in Bulgaria is “SOS Children's Villages International”. The association takes care of children deprived of parental care and those at risk of losing the support of their parents, assuring them a functional family, so that they can grow up in a healthy environment.

Examples of NPOs active in Bulgaria,working in the sphere of the wilderness preservationand the reduction of humanity's footprint on the environmentare:“The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)”;“Animal rescue”;“Green Balkans”;“Wild animals”.The main activity of those organizations is the treatment andtaking care of orphaned orinjured wild animalsand their release back to nature.

NPO

Time flows fast and the wind of change has renewed theworld, bringing us technology, new ways of communicationand new moral.

Teenagers often happen to teach their grandparents how tomake phone calls on their brand new smart phones. So it isneeded nowadays all of us to take notes from each other.More than needed, it is essential to practise and profit fromthe Intergenerational Learning (IL).

An example for an European organization, supporting theintergenerational learning is The European Map ofIntergenerational Learning (EMIL).

It is a collaborative network for transfer of knowledge, thatfosters reciprocal learning relationships between differentgenerations and helps to develop social capital, promotingrespect between generations.

An example of the Intergenerational Learning (IL) fromBulgaria is the initiative “Give lessons”, where young peopletrain adults for an hour and a half once a week how to workwith smartphones, skype, internet etc. It is organised bythe NPO association “Knowledge”.

Why is IL important? Because in many countries thecomposition of the workforce changed dramatically and theretirement age is constantly increasing. That is why,acquiring new skills and knowledge at the later stage of lifeis vital.

Speaking of children, helping adults, we cannot missspeaking about the solidarity among children. Since 2013,44th High School “Neofit Bozveli” organizes different charitycampaigns for helping children at risk.

An example of such an initiative is the

campaign “Let’s put a smile on the faces

of children in need”. The idea is to

collect new and well

preserved second-hand

clothes, books and toys

as well as buying treats

for orphans living

in state institutions.

Another Campaign organized by the students,supporting orphans, is "Caps in Action". Thestudents are gathering plastic bottle caps,which are a recyclable raw material. For eachton of plastic caps the students get 500 leva.

With the money received, electric

appliances are bought and the latter are

donated to different

orphanages.

Another humane initiative with the participation of studentsfrom the 44th High School is called “Dog in folio”. Studentscollect and transmit folio, donating the money received tothe foundation for training dogs for blind people "Eyes onFour Paws".

44th High School takes place also in

the Paper collection campaign. On the 21 March,

the World Forest Day, the students

transmit paper in

the predetermined

checkpoints.

This way,

they get

involved in an

important

environmental

initiative.

Sources of Information

1. http://www.childandspace.com/2. http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/

3. http://wildanimals.bg/

4. http://www.greenbalkans-wrbc.org/bg/

5. http://wwf.panda.org/

6. https://www.facebook.com/Animal.Rescue.Sofia/

7. http://www.emil-network.eu/

8. http://www.znanie-bg.org/index_en.html9. http://44sou.eu/

10. Wikipedia