"March for Freedom" in Varna
For the first time, Varna Municipality, the Prevention Directorate, the Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Varna and the SOS - Families at Risk Foundation hosted this event in 2019. The author of this largest information campaign against human trafficking and in support of victims in the international NGO A21. The initiative is implemented on the occasion of "18 October - European Day for the Fight Against Human Trafficking". The march takes place on one specific day in October, at one specific time around the world, allowing the event to be communicated as global, large-scale and with an avalanche effect. In Varna, Walk For Freedom took place on 15.10.2022.
The purpose of the March is to draw public and media attention to the problem of modern slavery, to the scale of the trade in human lives, in the direction of prevention and to raise public awareness, in an unconventional way. at 11.00 a.m., in a column, one behind the other, the participants walked in silence, the symbolic distance from the Festival and Congress center - Varna, along the continuation of the boulevard "Knyaz Boris I" to the "Bulgaria" square. The initiative brought together partners and supporters (volunteers, students, workers, parents, teachers, professionals, and citizens with an active public position) to expose to the public the global scale of the crime of human trafficking and the trade in human lives in our country, as well as to support the victims. The event has an advocacy character and aims to show that there are people in our city who are aware of the problem and do not agree with the rapidly growing statistics of people living in slavery.
As partners in the campaign joined the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings student councils from Technical University of Varna, Varna Free University, Varna Medical University, University of Economics, Higher Naval School "N.Y. Vaptsatov", students from 1st Language School, 3rd Mathematics School "Acad. Metodiy Popov", 4th Language School "Frederic Joliot-Curie", Language School "John Exarch", SU "Konstantin Preslavski", Mathematics School "Dr. Petar Beron", VTG "Georgi Stoykov Rakovski", PTG "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov", Private School "Ivan Bogorov", and PGSD "N. Haitov" and NGOs.
Participants in the march were 180 students from Varna schools, which have established school prevention clubs; students from Varna universities, representatives of the Foundation "SOS - Families at Risk" and employees of the Prevention Directorate, Varna Municipality.