Our mission

The Students’ Society for Development and Interethnic Dialogue (SSDID) is the only Roma organization in Bulgaria that realizes projects for improving the access of Roma to higher education. The organization also focuses on cultural projects aimed at supporting young Roma artists and promoting Roma culture as part of the national culture.

SSDID has been active for fifteen years and developed a complex approach to the problems of Roma youth to access higher education. SSDID’s work fosters a positive perception of the Roma community in society and contributes to mitigating inequalities in education and to building self-esteem of Roma.

Our main goals are:

To increase the knowledge of young Roma about educational opportunities and career development in Bulgaria;

To increase the opportunities for cultural and artistic expression of talented Roma youth and to develop cultural projects;

To motivate Roma youth, intellectuals and professionals in various fields for active citizenship.

About us

SSDID was established in 2000 and has worked on over 50 projects focused on Roma youth, education, development of Roma culture, music and arts. We have provided professional consultation and technical support for higher education and career development to over 2000 young Roma and Roma student in higher education.  Our organization has produced six editions on Roma culture and history; organized a competition for the production of 24 short films by Roma students on the topics “The Other” and “A Positive Story about Roma”; and produced two documentaries: “Sofia History” and “Some Sofia Bards and Other Birds”. We have organized over 20 cultural events, conferences and public discussions involving Roma and non-Roma scholars, culture professionals, and students. The last event we organized in February 2015 was the screening of the Polish film “Papusha” featuring the history of Polish Roma in WWII, in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute in Sofia.

For the implementation of SSDID projects we use its core staff of 5 people with academic degrees in cultural studies, arts and humanities and with experiences in educational and cultural projects, promotion of human rights and non-discrimination, and journalism. SSDID’s Scientific Board includes scholars in the fields of Romani history and culture art and education such as Prof. Elena Marushiakova, Prof. Vesselin Popov, Prof. Rumyana Petkova, Dr. Irina Kitova, and others.  Around 90 Roma young people in the country are working with us as volunteers.