The Sixth National Annual Meeting of non-governmental organizations in Bulgaria, working on women’s, gender and equal opportunities issues will be held from March 5^th to 7^th 2004 at the Princess Hotel in Sofia.

Since 1998 this conference has proved to be an inspiring forum, where our organizations can share successful practices, achievements and problems and give ideas for our future work. The forum also provides the opportunity for an open dialogue with the central and local governments on key issues.

This year the conference will focus on the changes in Bulgarian legislation concerning the rights and status of women in the context of the European Union accession process and its application on local level. A Roundtable on the partnership between the local government and non-governmental organisations for solving the problems and improvement of the status of women will be also held.

These meetings were traditionally organized by the former Women’s Program of the Open Society Foundation, Sofia. This year the Center of Women's Studies and Policies Foundation, which is the successor of the Program, continues and develops this successful practice.