With closing press conference, held today at Hotel "Cosmopolitan", Ruse was finalized the project “New European standards for the implementation of alternatives to prison”. Guests of the press conference were Mr. Stanimir Stanchev - Deputy Regional Governor of Ruse and Dr. Svetlin Antonov - Inspector at the District Office "Execution of Punishments", Ruse.

The project manager, Mr. Ivaylo Ivanov - Manager of the Beneficiary - BRTMI Association presented in front of guests and journalists, results achieved in the project over the past 13 months, namely:

v  Sustainable partnership built between the partners - Association "Bulgarian-Romanian Trans-border Mediation Institute " and Association "Institute of Conflict Resolution", and with the Ministry of Justice and Directorate General "Execution of Punishments";

v  Conducted research the experiences of Norway and Hungary in the field of probation and alternative measures and a report of the research prepared;

v  Conducted surveys and an evaluation of the needs of training among 135 probation officers, 10 judges and 10 prosecutors;

v  Developed training programs and training materials for the trainings of professionals included in the project - judges, prosecutors and probation officers;

v  Developed and printed Manual "Adult’s learning, training and education" (Handbook for trainers);

v  Filmed 5 educational films;

v  38 probation officers participated in two trainings - initial and joint training with judges and prosecutors;

v  12 judges and 10 prosecutors participated in joint three-day trainings;

v  15 probation officers trained as trainers within the three-module training;

v  Extremely high level of satisfaction of participants in trainings and public events - over 95% of the participants shared positive feedbacks;

v  Bilingual website of the project with learning platform (http://alternativi.birtim.com);

v  Public events held - opening and closing press conferences and conference entitled "The experience of Hungary and Norway on the application of restorative justice and punishment of liberty - new horizons for criminal justice";

v  Advertising and informational materials printed and disseminated among stakeholders.

Mr. Stanimir Stanchev congratulated the project team for the achievements and expressed the desire of the Ruse Regional Administration to support ensuring sustainability of results through institutional support and assistance.

Dr. Svetlin Antonov from the Regional Office "Execution of Punishments", Ruse, as part of the project target group and participant in trainings conducted, evaluate project results as useful for the system of execution of punishments and expressed his hope that with the end of the project, doesn’t ends the partnership between the Beneficiary - BRTMI Association and General Directorate "Execution of Punishments" and in particular - Regional Office "Execution of Punishments", Ruse.

The project team thanks to all participants in the project activities for fruitful cooperation, expressed satisfaction and the desire for stability and reliable upgrading of results.

The press conference was part of the activity "Measures to raise awareness regarding the application of probation and alternative measures" of the project, funded under contract № 93-00-133, by  Small Grant Scheme of Programme BG 15 of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 with Program Operator - Ministry of Justice.

You can see the final report here>>>