The Republic of Bulgaria

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the observance of the generally accepted international standards in this field is a core priority of Bulgaria’s domestic and foreign policy.
 
The Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, adopted in 1991, incorporates practically word for word the standards contained in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Bulgaria holds the view that human rights are universal, inseparable, interdependent and interlinked. A basic principle of the modern system of promoting and protecting a person’s human rights and fundamental freedoms should be the recognition of the universal nature of existing international standards in this field as well as the interdependence between economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.

Governments of individual states bear the main responsibility for implementing and protecting human rights. With all the importance of regional and national characteristics and the different historic, religious and cultural traditions, the universal recognition of the international legal standards in this field and their actual implementation in law and in the practice of individual states is the first and foremost condition for the creation of an effective international system for human rights protection and promotion.

The implementation of the internationally recognised standards in the field of human rights is a precondition both for national security and for sustained development of the states and for international peace and security.

Bulgaria attaches primary importance to the need for further enhancing the importance of the effective protection and promotion of human rights in the United Nations system as a key element in the renewal of the Organisation. We support the view that the international community should have the opportunity to react to grave and systematic human rights abuses and to take measures to prevent their escalation. In this context Bulgaria supports the creation of a standing Human Rights Council as an auxiliary body of the UN General Assembly.

Bulgaria also supports the enhancement of the role and the functions of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in relation to the integration of the internationally recognised standards in this field in all aspects of the work of the United Nations General Assembly.

As a practical expression of the importance that Bulgaria attaches to human rights related issues it has ratified all main United Nations international instruments in the field of human rights and has withdrawn its previous reservations to them in connection with the right to individual petitions.

Guaranteeing the rights of persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities is a matter concerning closely the domestic stability of states. The traditional tolerant attitude towards the representatives of minority groups and the successes in their equitable integration in society is the basis of the Bulgarian national model of inter-ethnic relations. A guarantee for the successful functioning of this model is the consistent implementation by Bulgaria of the international human rights standards as well as the building of a pluralist civil society, a functioning market economy and democratic institutions based on the rule of law.
Background

The deepening of the integration and globalisation processes has brought about an increase of the interdependence between the developed and the developing countries. The idea that there is no global security without a development of the more economically and socially underdeveloped  countries, and similarly - there can be no development without international, regional and individual security is winning recognition in international politics.

Development cooperation, both conceptually and practically as a reality in international relations, comes to the fore in the role of an important element of the foreign policy of the developed counties' and in particular of the EU Member States. Foreign assistance enhances its relative share and its role as an instrument of foreign policy. Foreign policy activities in the field of development cooperation play an important role both in implementing national foreign policy priorities and objectives, and in achieving a favourable international environment for the development and prosperity of integration communities such as the EU.

Conceptually development cooperation is based on several basic documents and international fora.

1. A United Nations Millennium Declaration for development was adopted at the Millennium Summit under the UN aegis in New York in September 2000 which included  the values, principles and goals of global development cooperation in the 21st  century and eight millennium development goals (MDGs) were formulated

Global Millennium Development Goals

(according to the United Nations Millennium Declaration of September 2000)

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rate

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

2. Two United Nations high level fora were held in 2002 – the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterey, Mexico) and the Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa), in the course of which important decisions were adopted for the practical implementation of the tasks set forth in the Millennium Declaration. The Concluding Document of the Monterey meeting is based on the understanding (the so called Monterey Consensus) that the MDGs may be achieved only through involving both the developed and the developing countries – the developing countries bear the main responsibility for their own development but their efforts in this respect should be supported by the developed countries whose financial responsibility is measured as a percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

3. At the summit in New York in September 2005 again under the United Nations aegis a review was made of the progress in achieving the MDGs and a Concluding Document was adopted which maps out additional measures for attaining the goals as well as for the institutional reform in the world organisation.

From the point of view of transforming policies into real activities the United Nations and its system provide the universal format within which the most important issues of international development cooperation are discussed and agreed. The predominant number of activities is of primary importance for the developing countries.

In addition to the United Nations system the issues of globalisation, sustainable development, financing for development, social development, etc. occupy the main part of the agenda of the international financial institutions (IFI) – the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), organisations of foreign aid donor-countries, such as The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), regional investment banks, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), etc. The EU as an organisational structure is the biggest donor of assistance to developing countries. Substantial development assistance is also provided by the USA, Japan, Switzerland, Norway, etc., including “new” donors such as China.

Among  the IFI the IMF and the WB have the greatest experience in transforming the development policies to the benefit of the developing countries through providing grants, soft loans (preferential terms and interest), guarantees, performing analytical and consulting activities, debt relief, particularly within the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (a universally accepted acronym:  HIPC), support for enhancing national capacity, performing global monitoring and lobbying in favour of the developing countries.

The WTO is also contributing in the field of its competence, underlying the link between trade and development and seeking opportunities to assist developing countries with a view of their effective inclusion in international trade.

An important role in international development cooperation is played by the OECD. In March 2005 under its aegis Heads of State and Government of over 100 states adopted the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Harmonisation , containing clear principles for providing aid and indicators for its effectiveness. One of the OECD bodies – the Development Assistance Committee – DAC is also a substantial element in the practical aspects of development policies. The Committee is the most reliable source of statistical information on foreign assistance provided to developing countries both multilaterally and bilaterally. It is also a lawmaker in the field of Official Development Assistance (ODA) – the part of foreign assistance most important for development policies, specifying its possible recipients, the rules of its statistical reporting and its effective channelling and use.