Bulgarian Fund for Women
BFW
Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) is the only Bulgarian foundation which supports feminist organizations, collectives and activists that challenge the status quo and work towards a systemic change for women, girls, and all marginalized communities.
ID: 235877691703-38
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Ana Maria Dobre (Acting Head of Unit Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion)
3 Oct 2025 · Discussion about latest developments in education and social inclusion of Roma population in Bulgaria and the new MFF proposal
Response to EU Civil Society Strategy
4 Sept 2025
Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) welcomes the Commissions initiative to develop an EU Civil Society Strategy. This comes at a decisive moment for democracy and human rights across Europe. To be effective, the Strategy must reflect the realities of civil society organizations (CSOs), strengthen their role as democratic actors, and address the growing threats they face. Civic space across the Union is under coordinated attack, from anti-gender campaigns to institutional backlash. Womens rights and feminist organizations are delegitimized, underfunded, and targeted by disinformation, despite their central role in combating gender-based violence (GBV), advancing equality, and ensuring inclusive participation. As the only donor organization in Bulgaria dedicated to womens rights and feminist movements, BFW has direct experience with both the transformative impact of EU support and the persistent barriers grassroots actors face. Based on this expertise, BFW calls for a feminist and transformative Strategy that embeds gender equality, safeguards civic space, ensures meaningful participation, secures sustainable funding, and reframes narratives around civil society. Gender equality must be the backbone of the Strategy. Shrinking civic space is inseparable from the backlash against womens rights, SRHR, LGBTIQ+ equality, and protection from GBV. Unless equality is embedded horizontally, feminist CSOs risk being sidelined when they are most needed. The Strategy should mainstream gender equality across all objectives and funding streams, integrate indicators on women human rights defenders into EU monitoring, and guarantee structured participation of feminist CSOs in governance. Sustainable and equitable funding is essential. The Strategy must dedicate substantial and long-term resources and dedicated budget; prioritize flexible, core, and multiannual funding for feminist CSOs; simplify procedures and reduce co-financing requirements; and expand re-granting through trusted feminist intermediaries to reach small and local groups. Civic space must be protected through accountability. Feminist and grassroots CSOs are on the frontline of harassment, SLAPPs, smear campaigns, and surveillance. The Strategy should establish a dedicated EU mechanism to monitor civic space with a gender-responsive framework, guarantee safe and enabling environments, and link civic space indicators to EU funding conditionality. Meaningful engagement of CSOs must be institutionalized. Democracy requires structured participation of civil society. The Strategy should move beyond consultation to long-term dialogue and co-creation at EU and national levels; require Member States to institutionalize civil dialogue; enforce Recommendation EU 2023/2836; guarantee systematic participation of womens rights and grassroots CSOs in reforms and EU programmes; and create accessible, user-friendly platforms for participation. Narratives around civil society and feminist action must change. CSOs are too often framed as burdens or risks, while feminist actors are deliberately targeted. The Strategy should launch EU-wide campaigns to highlight the democratic contributions of CSOs, publicly condemn attacks against womens rights defenders, promote civic education, and partner with media and academia to counter harmful narratives. Conclusion. The EU Civil Society Strategy is a historic opportunity to defend democracy, strengthen civic space, and reaffirm the Unions commitment to fundamental rights. To succeed, it must be feminist at its core: embedding gender equality, safeguarding civic space, resourcing womens rights organizations, and guaranteeing sustainable support for those combating gender-based violence.
Read full responseResponse to Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030
1 Aug 2025
Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) welcomes the development of the EU Gender Equality Strategy 20262030 and urges the Commission to adopt an ambitious, intersectional, and feminist approach that reflects the realities and needs of women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Eastern Europe and beyond. As the only donor organization in Bulgaria dedicated to gender equality and womens rights, BFW emphasizes the need for robust support to feminist civil society, meaningful access to EU funding, and institutional mechanisms that safeguard rights in the face of anti-gender backlash, democratic erosion, and rising inequality. We recommend the Strategy: - Ensures freedom from all forms of gender-based violence, through full ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention, expansion of the Directive on VAW, and recognition of cyberviolence and AI-facilitated harms. - Secures access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including safe and legal abortion, gender-sensitive healthcare, and comprehensive sexuality education. - Strengthens feminist civil society, especially in underfunded regions, by providing flexible, core, and long-term funding for womens rights organisations, and ensuring direct access to EU funds. - Promotes a feminist economic model that values care, addresses womens poverty, guarantees equal pay, and invests in social infrastructure for work-life balance and wellbeing. - Advances inclusive education and political participation, including gender-transformative education, quotas for equal representation, and targeted measures for marginalised groups. - Institutionalises gender equality across EU governance, including through a dedicated Council configuration on Gender Equality, gender-responsive budgeting, and intersectional policy coherence across all EU strategies. - Upholds intersectionality, addressing systemic discrimination against Roma, LBTI, migrant, disabled, rural, and low-income women and linking gender equality with broader human rights and social justice goals. The Strategy must not only defend rights but enable transformation. BFW stands ready to support its development and implementation, ensuring it delivers meaningful change for all women and girls across the EU.
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