USAID Acting Administrator Joins Closing Celebration of USAID Bulgaria
On October 10, Acting USAID Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance Henrietta Fore joined the celebration of Bulgaria’s graduation from Support for East European Democracy (SEED) development assistance, the closing of the USAID Mission in Bulgaria, and the continuing U.S.-Bulgarian partnership.
Acting Administrator Fore’s visit to Sofia highlighted the sustainability of partnerships forged with USAID assistance and Bulgaria’s role as a regional leader and emerging donor. She met with Speaker of Parliament Georgi Pirinski; visited the National Institute of Justice and engaged in a discussion with students; and met with key USAID partners and government counterparts.
The closing ceremony, which celebrated seventeen years of partnership and progress, was attended by prominent representatives of Bulgarian civil society, media, business, government, the judiciary, and academia. Mission Director Michael Fritz, Ambassador John Beyrle, Minister of State Administration Nikolay Vassilev, Rayna Gavrilova, Executive Director of the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe, Stefan Ivanov, Country Officer for Citigroup in Bulgaria, and Hristo Ivanov, attorney at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, provided their personal and professional perspectives on key aspects of the U.S.-Bulgaria partnership. Each participant in the closing ceremony received a certificate that a tree will be planted in their name in Sofia’s South Park, to perpetuate the partnership forged over the past 17 years. The Mission and Sofia Municipality will organize the official planting of approximately 500 trees in November.
U.S. assistance to Bulgaria has been critical to the country’s transition to a democracy and market economy. As a result of USAID assistance totaling more than $600 million, Bulgarian citizens benefit from improvements such as 140 one-stop municipal information and service centers; increased transparency and efficiency at 32 courts; and a stable banking system whose assets have grown more than 500 percent since 1997. USAID assistance has created approximately 130,000 jobs in the country.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.
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