Bulgaris’s Annual Report on Youth for 2007

The report is compiled for the sixth year in a row. It was written by an interdepartmental expert council including representatives of government ministries, agencies and other entities concerned with youth policy, and representatives of the academic and youth communities.

According to a summary of the report, presented by the State Agency on Youth and Sports (SAYS), it maps out eight basic spheres and policies of development and change: social status, education, health care, career development, free time, civil activity, risk behaviour, and European dimension of Bulgarian youth.

The analysis of the data registers advancement in all spheres in the lives of young people, subject to social regulation. A survey conducted by the Mediana polling agency shows real advancement in the quality of life of young people: increased consumption, improved financial status, and successful career development.

Currently, Bulgaria is below the average European indices of youth unemployment; if the "Roma factor" is isolated (these are, above all, young Roma without education and qualifications, functionally illiterate, who cannot find their place on the labour market - 14 per cent of the youth community, according to the survey) the country is at one of the lowest places in the EU in terms of unemployment. The share of unemployed young people with higher education has exclusively members of the Roma community.

An important step by SAYS has been the drawing up of a youth development bill which was submitted to the Council of Ministers in October 2007. The bill is aimed to promote the self-organization of young people by defining the mechanisms for building and structuring of youth representation.

Under BTA