INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR COOPERATION

(IIC ASSOCIATION)

The “International Initiatives for Cooperation - IIC” Association is a newly established organization founded by persons concerned by strengthening the civic society in Bulgaria and in the Mesta region; participation of local community in the local governance and the decision making process; social and economic development of the country and the target region; support to vulnerable groups; development of education and culture; equal opportunities and ethnic integration; conflict resolution; environment protection, etc.

Among the members of the International Initiatives for Cooperation Association there is a number of people with expertise in developing, implementing and monitoring bilateral and multicountries projects financed by national and foreign donors (Bulgarian government, EC, USAID, etc.). They have worked in the field of community development; social and economic development; support to local small and medium sized enterprises; needs assessments and design of programmes in favour of vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities. Some of these experts have been involved in the implementation of Phare Partnership projects for local community development in the Mesta region (for instance LEDA Project implemented in 1999-2000); in projects for researching ethnic minority groups for ethnic integration in underdeveloped regions/municipalities; for supporting people with disabilities, etc. They are experienced in conducting surveys, designing concepts and programmes for regional and local development, performing promotion campaigns, identifying training needs and developing training programmes and materials, networking.

Both the chairperson and the senior expert of the Association possess expertise in: project design (near 100 projects developed for different Bulgarian NGOs, most of them have been successfully financed by EC, USAID, and other donors); project implementation, coordination and/or management (projects financed by Phare, Phare-Partnership, ILO/UNDP, ETF-Turin, Open Society Foundation – Bulgaria, the EC European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, etc.); evaluation of project proposals (for Open Society Foundation – Bulgaria, Phare-Partnership, Phare-Access, USAID/Partners Bulgaria Foundation); monitoring and evaluation of project implementation (Phare-Lien, Phare-Partnership, Phare-Access, USAID/Partners Bulgaria Foundation). The members of the Association work in partnership with officials from the central government, the regional and local authorities, NGOs, local communities.

The projects with the greatest impact, implemented by them have been focused on needs assessment and policy design (“New Approaches for Including Minorities in the Social and Economic Development of Less Developed Rural Areas”, “Vocational Training and Education Needs in the Region of Stara Zagora”, “Continuing Vocational Training in Mining and Steel Industry in the Region of Pernik”, “Women in Business in Bulgaria”, SME Annual Reports for the National SME Agency); social and economic development of small communities (“LEDA” Phare-Partnership project in cooperation with NGOs from Spain and Greece); support to vulnerable groups and strengthening of the civic participation in the decision making on local and regional level (“Promotion of Self-Employment Among the Military Disabled People”, “Networking for Success. Increasing Women Participation in the Decision-Making and Policy Implementation on the Balkans” in partnership with NGOs from Macedonia and Albania , “Ethnic Integration and Conflict Resolution”, etc.).