Social Inclusion Project

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The objective for the Social Inclusion Project (SIP) for Bulgaria is to promote social inclusion through increasing the school readiness of children below the age of seven, targeting low-income and marginalized families (including children with a disability and other special needs). There are two components to the project. The first component is the integrated social and childcare services. This component consists of a menu of community subprojects including services and infrastructure investments from which the municipality can choose according to its needs. It covers provision of a set of integrated social and childcare services for parents and children from marginalized groups and children with a disability. Municipalities will subcontract third sector agencies with contracts involving performance targets and per capita based remuneration. All persons involved in delivery will be informed and equipped to refer parents to the services they need, whether available under this project or through established public channels. Finally, the second component is the capacity-building. This component supports the design and pilot launch of a national school readiness program, the SIP will also finance necessary capacity-building activities at the central and municipal level. European Social Fund (ESF) funding will be available finance the large part of local capacity-building activities, but SIP financing will be made available through this component to ensure quick start-up. This component also includes an allocation to support project auditing and construction works inspection for municipal sub-projects.