Local NGOs Launch Projects to Support Court Transparency and Efficiency
Following an intense competition, 27 NGOs from diverse regions of Bulgaria received small grant awards in Sofia on July 27. The Competitive Grants program under the USAID Judicial Strengthening Initiative (JSI) will support projects in several areas of work with Bulgaria’s courts, including legislative drafting and monitoring, training of magistrates, and public outreach through court television and student mock trial competitions.
Recipient organizations received approximately $20,000 each for projects that will run over several months. The projects will be conducted in thirteen municipalities across the country. Some will work at the national level, such as providing assistance in the drafting of federal judiciary legislation and producing court television documentaries for national broadcast. Other projects will operate at the local level, such as facilitating mock trials involving regional court judges and high schools.
The JSI Competitive Grants program will continue through 2007 to support the role of civil society in justice sector reform.
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| Dessislava Simeonova, Project Coordinator of the Bulgarian Helsinki
Committee, receives a certificate for her organization’s grant award from
Acting USAID/Bulgaria Mission Director Gene Gibson |
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