On 10 September 2024, in the Prof. Vasil Gerov Hall, the Executive Director of the ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ National Endowment Fund, Bisera Yosifova, and the Executive Director of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rayna Mandzhukova, signed a memorandum of joint activities. It formalises the directions in which the two bodies will partner each other in the organisation and implementation of various cultural projects and, in particular, educational initiatives concerning children and adolescents from the Bulgarian communities outside the country.
The first project, marking the beginning of this cooperation in 2024, is the Fund’s recently held session determining financial support under the title: ‘“Sacred Language of My Forebears…’: Let Us Support Bulgarian Language Learning in Sunday Schools Abroad’. It is intended for children in the Sunday schools of the Bulgarian communities abroad and corresponds to the goals and priorities of both the Fund and the Agency.
The cooperation continues with a donative gesture on behalf of NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’: a gratuitous donation of over 700 books, with the intention that the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad will provide the books to Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad. Books printed by St Kliment Ohridski University Press, Zahariy Stoyanov Publishing House, Colibri Publishers, and the Bulgarian Historical Heritage Foundation, accompanied those from the series, ‘Contemporary Bulgarian Art. Names’.
The memorandum is valid for a period of three years.