NEWS

Reason and humaneness can stop the shameful “one million child refugees”

 

One million Syrian children are paying the cost of a war which is driving them away from their homeland. It is a shameful record, as noted by the UNHCR and UNICEF.  Children are the most vulnerable victims of the civil war in Syria. It is a severe wound for the world to face homeless children in distress and suffering and divided families. It is a plague that undermines the democratic and humanistic foundations of mankind that has embraced the values of rule of law and humanism. 

 

I appeal that we women who serve in the central and local administration, in the education sector, in the media, in the trade unions and in NGOs bring together our knowledge and effort to support the children, to advance urgent and rational ideas and to undertake political action to resolve the crisis in Syria! 

 

Indifference is not a solution. Indifference can only constitute complicity in the global-scale failure for the world community. The life and smiles of our children whom we beget with love and the pledge to protect have an acute need that we be rational and humane. 

 

In this situation of an escalating multiple crisis I believe it is particularly important that the voice of women and mothers be heard: with our special sensitivity, at high-ranking positions in society and in the government. We can be an engine, a guarantor and a corrective agent of policies and solutions on which the fate of thousands of people depends, including the fate of the exiled Syrian children.

I am confident that Bulgaria, being part of the democratic and free area of the European Union and of the United Nations Organization, is capable to demonstrate by its institutions and public a commitment and responsibility to the sufferers. The national institutions that are in charge of the protection of refugees and are to provide the balance between civil rights and national security and public safety and that are involved in advocacy for children worldwide are demonstrating concern and motivation and work to speed up the processes of cooperation for the benefit of the protection of refugees.

 

We all have the birthright to live a life in freedom and safety.

 

The growing hate speech and the retreat from human rights protection were among the main topics of conversation between Bulgarian Head of State Iliana Iotova and American Jewish Committee CEO Theodore Deutch. The two met on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference.

Bulgarian Head of State Iliana Iotova conferred with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The two met during the 62nd Munich Security Conference.

Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova and her Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev discussed deepening energy cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. The two held a meeting within the framework of the 62nd Munich Security Conference.

Iliana Iotova held meetings during the Munich Security Conference with the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov