On 29 June 2026, the Equilibrium team held the first community forum on Early Childhood Development with parents from the villages of Kosharna, Stambolovo and Malko Vranovo.
This was the first of nine forums to be organised as part of the Public Agreement for Early Childhood project, implemented by Equilibrium in partnership with the Free Youth Centre – Vidin, with For Our Children Foundation as the lead partner.
The forum took place at the Community Centre in Kosharna, thanks to the warm hospitality of RALIZ, whose team works closely with local families every day and helped engage parents from the community.
The most valuable part of the day was not finding ready-made answers, but creating a space for honest conversations. Parents openly shared the joys of raising young children, the worries that come with pregnancy and the first years of parenthood, the challenges they face in everyday life, and the small victories that give them strength to keep going. The meeting was filled with trust, openness and the feeling that every voice mattered.
Participants expressed their appreciation for the support they receive from the professionals at RALIZ. At the same time, they highlighted the issues that most affect the lives of families in the area: the lack of children’s playgrounds and the limited public transport connecting the villages with Slivo Pole and Ruse. These barriers make it more difficult for families with young children to access healthcare as well as other essential services.
At the end of the meeting, parents were asked what they were most proud of. Their answer was simple yet powerful: their children and grandchildren. Their love, commitment and resilience are the strongest foundation on which children can grow up feeling safe, loved and supported.
Everything shared during this forum will become part of a much larger conversation. Together with the ideas and recommendations gathered through the other community forums across the country, these voices will contribute to the development of the Public Agreement for Early Childhood.
We believe that the best decisions for young children begin by listening to the people who care for them every single day. That is why this project is built from the bottom up – bringing together the experiences, concerns and ideas of families and communities and turning them into recommendations for public institutions. Lasting change happens when policies are shaped with people, not simply for them.
The project is supported by the Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation Programme, under the Civil Society Engagement and Transparency Facility (CETF) 2024–2029. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and participants and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Governments of Switzerland or Bulgaria.
