At a conference of the Program for support of NGOs in Bulgaria the Open Society Institute presented impressive figures about the non-governmental organizations in this country. The sector started to emerge rapidly in the 1990s and since then Bulgaria has seen a steady growth in all spheres of activity.

Recently the number of NGOs seems to have peaked with 800 and 900 new organizations with the mission to benefit society on average being registered annually. So far there are 15,000 NGOs operating in Bulgaria distributed among 900 towns and villages. About a third of them, or 5000, are concentrated in the city of Sofia. Most often their areas of activity include education, culture, sport and human rights but the largest number of them focus on sport. The number of sports clubs exceeds 3500.

Open Society officials have tried to find out what motivates people to register new organizations every year. According to analysts who are critical of the sector, the motives are selfish and are related to the notion of "wealthy organizations that pay well.” Statistics though clearly suggest that even the most active NGOs have annual expenses below 10,000 euro and in most cases annual expenses run as low as 2,5-3,5 thousand euro. The sector is dominated by small organizations that cannot afford hiring staff and rely on voluntary labor in 60% of the cases.

The NGO sector employs mostly women with higher education and English language skills, but this relatively qualified personnel is payed lower wages than wages paid in the public administration and the private sector.

The truth according to Open Society is in that there are various mechanisms that urge people to get organized, and that the processes in the country and across Europe constantly confirm the need of non-governmental organizations and solutions that presuppose changes aimed at a better society. Despite that as many as 80% of Bulgarian citizens are anxious not to get involved in any organized forms of involvement in public affairs – be it a political party, a community center or an NGO, the Open Society Institute has found.

English Daniela Konstantinova