Bulgaria has the will and resource to successfully complete the process of removing the institutional model of care for the children and the development of inter-sector services for social inclusion, President Rosen Plevneliev said today.  Together with Prince Edward and Princess Sophie and Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova the Head of State visited the Center for public support “Saint Sofia” of the “For Our Children” foundation and met foster children and families with which the organization works. The President expressed his gratitude for the shared British experience in the process of deinstitutionalization and marked the contribution of the NGOs in Bulgaria for introducing the practice of this experience.

The President once again reiterated the role of preventing the abandonment of children as the most efficient measure for overcoming this important social problem. In only 2012, thanks to the efforts of the “For Our Children” foundation, 210 children have preserved their family environment and have been accommodated in foster families. “Currently our aim is to ensure that every child facing risk is provided the chance to live in a family environment,” Rosen Plevneliev commented. The President recalled that Bulgaria is a pioneer in Europe in carrying out the process of deinstitutionalization by securing combined funding from three operational EU programs.

Earlier today Prince Edward and Princess Sophie and Hasan Ademov, minister of labor and social policy, visited First Obstetric-gynecological hospital in Sofia and talked with the leadership of the hospital and with representatives of the “For Our Children” foundation about their eight-year partnership and the implementation of the Project against the abandonment of children.