Completed Projects

The project is funded by the National Programme of Bulgaria under the Thematic Fund Security of the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme

The overall objective of the project is to support the Bulgarian government in its efforts to combat trafficking in human beings by contributing to the improvement of the protection of both Bulgarian nationals who have been victims of trafficking in human beings and of foreign nationals trafficked to Bulgaria. The project also aims to improve the administrative capacity of the Bulgarian authorities to provide protection and assistance to victims and witnesses of trafficking.

Start date: 01.01.2015
End date: 31.12.2018
Term of implementation: 48 months

More information about the project can be found here.

The project is funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers

The overall objectives of the project are:

prevention of violence against children and respect for their rights on the migration path, from the point of arrival at hotspots, during transit and in reception centers; support and improve integrated national child protection systems; capacity building for staff of child protection agencies, asylum and migration authorities, NGOs and other persons working for and with children, including volunteers; collecting information and monitoring the situation of refugee and migrant children.

Status: COMPLETED

Start date: 15.10.2016
End date: 14.04.2018
Term of implementation: 18 months

The brochures for the project can be found here, in the following languages: bulgarian, english, аrabic, farsi, kurdish, pashto and urdu.
You can find a project poster here.
An analysis on the project can be found here.

One of the main activities of the project is the reunification of families that have been separated for one reason or another during the migration process, mainly because of conflicts or dangers on the migration path.

The project is funded by the National Program of Bulgaria under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund 2014-2020 with the financial support of the European Union and the budget of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to improving the management of assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) of third-country nationals (TCNs) through the promotion of and assistance with voluntary return, as well as by raising the awareness of TCNs of the possibilities for AVRR to their countries of origin and safe third countries.

​Status: ENDED

Start date: 13.10.2015
End date: 12.10.2017
Term of implementation: 24 months

You can find more information about the project here.

The project is funded by the National Program of Bulgaria under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund 2014-2020 with the financial support of the European Union and the budget of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The overall objective of the project is to improve the management of the return of third-country nationals (TCN) by encouraging and supporting voluntary return and raising awareness among TCN on the possibilities for voluntary return and reintegration into countries of origin and third countries.

​Status: ENDED

Start date: 13.10.2015
End date: 12.10.2017
Term of implementation: 24 months
More information about the project can be found here.

The project is funded by the National Program of Bulgaria under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund 2014-2020 with the financial support of the European Union and the budget of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The overall objective of the project is to focus on:

improving migrant reception conditions, in particular by providing psycho-social and legal services;
helping to combat the trafficking of vulnerable migrants and improving the protection of unaccompanied minors;
providing information and advice to third-country nationals on the possibilities for voluntary return.
The project includes AVRR components.

Status: COMPLETED

Start date: 23.11.2016
End date: 30.09.2019
Term of implementation: 36 months
More information about the project can be found here.

The overall objective of the project is to prepare different categories of healthcare professionals and law enforcement officers to address the specific health needs of migrants - for example, border officers of the Republic of Bulgaria. The main focus is on contagious diseases and mental health problems. To this end, IOM organizes trainings for the respective employees and healthcare professionals, who then apply the developed practices in the national context. More information about the project can be found here.

Status: COMPLETED

The project is funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a prevalent human rights violation both globally and on the European level. SGBV has both physical and psychological forms, it includes domestic violence, sexual harassment and violence, harmful traditional practices, exploitation and trafficking in human beings. Women and men, girls and boys and LGBTQI people can all become victims of such violence.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacities of existing national support services for sexual and gender based violence to coordinate better and make these systems available for refugee, migrant and asylum seeker victims and potential victims of SGBV. The project also aims to raise awareness among and empower these communities.

The project is implemented by 12 IOM country offices (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Spain) and eight NGO partners, Legebitra (Slovenia), Le monde selon les femmes abl (Belgium), Fundación EMET Arco Iris, Asociación Rumiñahui, Movimiento por la Paz (Spain), Arq Psychotrauma Expert Groep, Rutgers, and Pharos (Netherlands) between October 2018 and March 2020.

The project has the following specific objectives and activities that will be implemented during its 18-month project cycle. Most of the activities will be tailored to specific national context.

Strengthen and adapt existing national support services for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) to coordinate better and include refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers.
Build capacity for professionals who work with and for refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers with the aim of identifying and addressing the needs of victims and potential victims of SGBV more effectively.
Empower and inform refugee and migrant communities and asylum-seekers of SGBV and its prevention through a regional awareness-raising campaign.

By the end of the project the following outputs will be produced:

SOPs/Guidelines developed / reviewed / contributed to in 8 countries Empowerment Handbook (Bulgaria) 120+ trainings organized in 12 countries 13 000+ information materials distributed 200+ information session organized on SGBV prevention

Status: COMPLETED

Start date: 01 October 2018
End date: 31 March 2020
Term of implementation: 18 months

For further information, please contact: +359 2 93 94 774

The project is funded by the National Program of Bulgaria under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund 2014-2020
with the financial support of the European Union and the budget of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The overall objective of the project is to focus on:

improving reception conditions, in particular the provision of psycho-social services and support to counter the trafficking of vulnerable migrants, and strengthen the protection of unaccompanied minors; providing information and advice to third-country nationals on the possibilities for voluntary return;  supporting voluntary return to countries of origin.

Status: COMPLETED

Start date: 01.06.2017
End date: 15.06.2019
Term of implementation: 24 months
More information about the project can be found here.

The project includes AVRR components.