The Ambassador of Switzerland got acquainted with the activities of the Amalipe Center
The Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation H.E. Pierre Hagmann visited the Amalipe Center office and two of the institutions with which we work in close partnership (Kliment Ohridski Secondary School – Kamen village and Strazhitsa Municipality) to get acquainted with the organization’s activities. We talked about the Roma community and the challenges it faces, education, the contribution of the Swiss-Bulgarian Development Program, the role of NGOs and the support of the Swiss Embassy and the Ambassadorial Group on Roma Issues. The subsequent visit to the village of Kamen and the town of Strazhitsa continued and detailed these conversations.
On March 23, H.E. Pierre Hagman visited the Amalipe office in Veliko Tarnovo. He was introduced in detail to the work of the organization, especially the activities in the areas of education and development of the Roma community, the initiatives for the support of educational mediators, civic and intercultural education, and the organization’s partnership with institutions at the local and national levels.
The organization’s team presented the individual programs, emphasizing civic education as a means of creating school communities that are open to parents and students, to their identities and the preservation/development of the cultures of different ethnicities, to the formation of tolerance and respect for others. Currently, Amalipe Center works with 259 schools throughout Bulgaria under the “Mission Excelent” program, which introduces intercultural and civic education, empowerment of parents (including through support for educational mediators) and students (including through the formation of student parliaments, the election of a student ombudsman, leadership academies for students, etc.). In the coming months, some of these schools will also implement civic education activities under the GLAS project, funded by the Swiss-Bulgarian Program. The President of Amalipe emphasized the development of the Roma community in the field of education in recent years – when we started working with the network of schools in 2010, only 39% of those graduating from primary education continued in secondary education, and today this is 98%. This is a merit not only of the schools and Amalipe, but is also an objective process of forming sustainable educational attitudes in the Roma community. Valeri Angelov (expert in parental participation at Amalipe and member of the National Network of Educational Mediators) emphasized the importance of the work that educational mediators do in the field – they not only return children to school, but also develop the parental community. Teodora Krumova thanked the Swiss Embassy for its support for the profession of educational mediator and for the important role that civic participation and Roma integration play in the Swiss-Bulgarian Development Program – for both topics the program allocates special components, engaging NGOs in them. This is especially important against the backdrop of pressure on the civil sector from extreme political parties.
Anna Velikova, PhD and Elena Borisova presented in detail the specific work of the organization in schools. Rosen Rusev introduced the ambassador to the initiatives to support mental health that we are implementing – they focus on field activities in the municipalities of Pavlikeni and Strazhitsa, including a study of the state of the problem (among the Roma, ethno-religious minorities and majorities), subsequent field activities to improve access to mental health services, including the creation of an online application. These initiatives are supported by the EC through the Horizon and EU4Health 2021-2027 programs.
At the end of the meeting, we expressed our gratitude for the fact that the Embassy of Switzerland is the co-chair of the Ambassadorial Group on Roma Issues. It brings together 14 embassies (of the main European countries and the USA), UNICEF and the World Bank, which are active in supporting Roma integration. The group was initiated a decade ago by the Embassy of Norway and the Amalipe Center, and is currently co-chaired by the ambassadors of Switzerland and Germany.
H.E. Pierre Hagman congratulated the organization for its effective work. He emphasized that in all the meetings in Veliko Tarnovo that he had (including at the Veliko Tarnovo University “St. Cyril and Methodius”, Veliko Tarnovo Municipality and the Regional Administration) the institutions spoke with respect for Amalipe and support for the organization’s activities – something that rarely happens with regard to civil society organizations in Bulgaria. He admired the support of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality for the holding of the Children’s Roma Festival “Open Heart” from its very beginning, as well as the Municipality’s decision to recognize ethnocultural diversity as one of Veliko Tarnovo’s strengths and to include the Amalipe Center in the team that prepared the candidacy of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality for the European Capital of Culture 2019.
The Ambassador emphasized the support that the Embassy and the Swiss-Bulgarian Program provide for the introduction of the position of educational mediator, for Roma integration and for the development of civil society. This is part of the support for the development of Bulgaria, its democratic system and the equalization of differences with the countries of Western Europe.
The next day, Ambassador Pierre Hagman visited the Kliment Ohridski Secondary School in Kamen village. He spoke with students and teachers, observed a Roma folklore class, and discussed the challenges facing the work of educational mediators. They showed him their field activities with parents. Together, they visited a traditional Burgudzhi family and introduced him to the craft of the Roma Burgudzhi, their traditions.
The visit to the village of Kamen was followed by a meeting with the Mayor of Strazhitsa Municipality Yordan Tsonev and his team. Strazhitsa Municipality is a long-standing partner of Center Amalipe and one of the municipalities implementing an active process of desegregation. In 2025, Center Amalipe received an Honorary Badge for civic contribution to the development of the city and the municipality. During the meeting, a number of important topics of mutual interest were discussed, including the development of cultural exchange, cooperation in the field of education, as well as opportunities for promoting sports and youth activities. During the visit, His Excellency was pleased to examine the collection of the art gallery in the municipality and expressed his admiration for the richness and quality of the works presented.
All meetings were held in a cordial and friendly spirit. The ambassador’s warm words, his easygoing and genuine demeanor quickly opened all kinds of doors, helped overcome the anxiety of students and teachers. The children’s smiles warmed the gloomy day and made the visit unforgettable.