{"id":172,"date":"2026-01-20T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pre.labour-int.eu\/?p=172"},"modified":"2026-06-25T11:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:35:53","slug":"pilot-project-in-bulgaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/pilot-project-in-bulgaria\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot project in Bulgaria"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Under LABOUR-INT III, the pilot project in Bulgaria implemented by\u00a0CITUB\u00a0<\/a>(the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of\u00a0Bulgaria) and Caritas Sofia<\/a> aims to facilitate the integration of migrants and beneficiaries of international protection into the national labour market. This is done through a comprehensive set of action designed to improve employability and access to decent work. These actions also strengthen social dialogue by involving trade union structures and other stakeholders. Working closely with local coalitions, they contribute to reducing key integration barriers, such as language, lack of legal information, and unfair working conditions, while promoting inclusive and rights-based employment pathways.<\/p>\n

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Actions implemented by Caritas Sofia and CITUB<\/h2>\n

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Between July 2024 and April 2025, Caritas Sofia organised intensive Bulgarian language courses<\/strong> for a total of 100 migrants and refugees enrolled, with 68 successfully completing the courses. Divided in seven groups, the students have completed both beginner (A1) and intermediate (A2) levels, aligned with the European Framework of Reference for Language.<\/p>\n

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The participants were beneficiaries of international and temporary protection, as well as applicants for international protection. In total, 4 groups of Ukrainian refugees and migrants, and 3 groups of Middle Eastern and other origins participated in a 5-weeks intensive couse of A1 level Bulgarian, followed by a 5-weeks intensive course of A2 level Bulgarian language course, for a total of 10 weeks and 180-hours language training curriculum.<\/p>\n

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These courses provided essential language skills for everyday life and work, helping participants take concrete steps towards employment and integration. The organization of language courses outside working hours ensured a high participation to the courses.<\/p>\n

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To improve long-term support for migrant workers, CITUB organised capacity-building seminars for its regional experts<\/strong> and main members <\/strong>in December 2024. These sessions focused on labour migration rules, social security and workers\u2019 rights, helping strengthen the organisation\u2019s ability to assist third-country nationals across Bulgaria. National institutions, including labour authorities, also took part, reinforcing cooperation at national level.<\/p>\n

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Additionally, in March 2025, CITUB organized and delivered a series of digital skills trainings<\/strong> aimed at supporting the mastery of basic knowledge, skills and attitudes for the use of digital technologies and the development of basic digital competences, as well as their application in the workplace. Based on the European Commission\u2019s DigComp framework, the training covered key areas such as online communication, content creation, safety and problem solving, as well as the use of public digital services.<\/p>\n

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The 5 sessions were highly practical and interactive, enabling participants to apply their new skills in real-life situations, such as writing emails or creating digital profiles. The total number of participants trained was 62 people, of which only 11 were men.<\/p>\n

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A nationwide information campaign<\/strong> was launched to ensure migrants have access to clear and practical guidance. This included a multilingual brochure on working in Bulgaria, available in five languages, and a poster campaign highlighting key rights and obligations. These materials were widely distributed through trade union networks, NGOs and reception centres, helping migrants better understand their rights and navigate the labour market. All the material and information about the project activities developed by CITUB are available in the\u00a0dedicate project page<\/a>\u00a0within the organization’s website.<\/p>\n

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Lastly, throughout 2026 CITUB carried out two vocational trainings for migant women<\/strong>. The first training took place in March-May and focused on manicure and nail art. 10 migrant women successfully completed this training. The second training was dedicated to the profession of administrative assistant: they were organized in May-June 2026, and 12 Ukrainian women with temporary protection status participated.<\/p>\n

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To mark and celebrate the completion of the project activities, Caritas Sofia is organizing the final project conference in November 2026 in Sofia<\/strong>, Bulgaria. More information and updates on the event can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Under LABOUR-INT III, the pilot project in Bulgaria implemented by CITUB (the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of\u00a0Bulgaria) and Caritas Sofia aims to facilitate the integration of migrants and beneficiaries of international protection into the national labour market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3rd-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labour-int.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}