CVS Bulgaria

About us
CVS-Bulgaria (Cooperation for Voluntary Service - Bulgaria) was legally registered as an NGO on the 6th of June 2002. The organization has been active at national and international level since 1998 and it is part of the international voluntary service and peace organization - SCI (Service Civil International).

The aims and objectives of CVS-Bulgaria are to popularize the idea of voluntary work through organizing voluntary initiatives, to motivate young people to participate in voluntary actions, to promote and support international understanding and solidarity, social justice, and respect for the environment.

To achieve its aims CVS-Bulgaria works in cooperation with organizations and institutions in Bulgaria and abroad. The main activities of CVS-Bulgaria are to organize short-term international voluntary exchanges and also to organize training courses, seminars, study visits, workshops and discussions. CVS-Bulgaria gives young people the opportunity to participate in voluntary projects of different areas - culture, ecology, art, work with children and disadvantaged people, in Bulgaria and all over the world.


History of CVS-Bulgaria
CVS-Bulgaria was founded by Bulgarian volunteers who participated in short term voluntary projects abroad - workcamps in Switzerland, Holland and Germany. We were greatly impressed with the exchanges, so we decided to organize similar camps in Bulgaria. During the summer of 1998 two workcamps were organized - one in the Central Balkan Mountains and one at Chairite lakes, in which young volunteers from different countries participated. In December 1998 a study visit was organized to Belgium and Holland, where the participants had the opportunity to become acquainted with the working system for voluntary service internationally, and to visit and build partnerships with organizations working in the area of international voluntary exchange. As a result of the study visit, EcoClub2000, Balkani Wildlife Society and Pro International Bulgaria established Cooperation for Voluntary Service- Bulgaria.


Structure of CVS-Bulgaria
Within CVS-Bulgaria the main decisions are taken by a General Assembly that meets at least once a year and a Steering Group which implements the resolutions of the General Assembly. The Steering Group gathers six times a year (each second month). There are also staff members (not full time employed) that organize CVS-Bulgaria activities and conduct the administrative work. The rest of the work is undertaken by CVS-Bulgaria's volunteers. There are two working groups in CVS-Bulgaria in which the volunteers participate. One is the Social Working Group that deals with the social activities and workcamps and the other one is the Eco Working Group dealing with the Eco-center in Vlahi and the eco workcamps.

CVS-Bulgaria is developing with the financial support of:
SDC - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Small Grants Programme of GEF
Milieukontakt Oost Europa
YOUTH Program
Jucker-Mauderli Fund of SCI-Switzerland
Bulgarian Environmental Partnership Foundation