Iliana Balabanova

• Free-lance Consultant and Manager for Activities and Projects related to Women’s Human Rights, Gender Equality and Violence against Women and Girls, since 2018;
• Vice-president of the European Women’s Lobby, (EWL, ), 2016 - 2018
• Bulgarian National Expert on the EWL Observatory on Violence against Women, 2008-2010 and 2012-2016
• Board Member of the EWL representing the Bulgarian Platform of the EWL (BP-EWL), since 2006
• Co-founder and President of the BP-EWL, since 2003

selected deliverables / activities in frame of my free-lance consultations:

December 2019, Turkey

Council of Europe expert in the CoE’ Confidence Building Measures Program Meeting of Journalists from Georgia and Sukhumi Abkhazia writing on the issue of domestic violence

November - February 2019, Armenia

Council of Europe expert in Project “Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in Armenia”, responsible for conducting media training on 16–17 November 2019 in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia for journalists, editors-in-chief and press officers; In co-operation with the Ombudsperson’s office - Armenia and based on recommendations gathered from the training participants, developing media guidance for journalists related to VAW/DV based on international and European standards

June, 2019 – present

European Union and the candidate countries (Serbia, North Macedonia, Turkey) 

Expert in the European Women’s Lobby Observatory against Violence against Women (set up in 1997), that acted as watchdog of the policy and practice developments on the protection and prevention against VAW, giving visibility to the real situation regarding the prevalence of VAW and the prevention and protection policies and services offered to women in each country.

June 2019 – March 2020, Russian Federation

Council of Europe expert in Project “Co-operation on the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women (2017–2022)”, responsible for delivering services, providing trainings, preparing reports and analyses on the interagency cooperation-models to prevent and combat VAW; women’s participation in public and political decision making; media trainings and training the mentors on VAW;

Within the framework of the project, I have provided the following training.

March 2019 – present, European Union

Researcher and trainer in Project “BASE Migrant and refugee child-friendly support services in cases of sexual and gender-based violence”, (Funded by the European Commission Directorate-General Justice and Consumers; Grant Agreement number: 809952 — BASE — REC-AG-2017/REC-RDAP-GBV-AG-2017). In April 2019 I delivered a desk research on country specificities of Gender based Violence in relations to migrant/refugee girls in Bulgaria.

As a trainer I am organizing and providing trainings to the authorities and to migrant women/girls on the following topics understanding sexual violence and GBV; Socio-cultural context and GBV; Understanding legal/judicial procedures; Awareness-raising in the community.

March - April 2019, Bulgaria

Bulgarian expert in the European Women’s Lobby #HerNetHerRights Project, focused on developing a training programme on the prevalence of online violence against women, provide practical advice on how to protect against online harassment and policy recommendations. Delivering presentation at training session and providing relevant information regarding the national contexts to candidates for the elections, female politicians, civil leaders and activists with the knowledge on advocating for policy changes to ensure the protection of all women and girls and the prosecution of perpetrators of online violence.

November 2018, Ghent, Belgium

Delivering presentation on the CoE Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – the Bulgarian case, in frame of the 2018 EURONGOS CONFERENCE “Act on hope! How can the European Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights community help unlock the rights & care for all?” 6-7 November 2018

November 2018, Paris, France

Expert in the EU Mutual learning Programme in Gender Equality. Drafting and delivering a paper on “Women and the media in Bulgaria” and actively participating in the seminar “Women and the media”;

May 2018, Podgorica, Montenegro

Delivering training on access to justice for victims of Domestic Violence in the Roundtable and training seminar “The CoE Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), organised in the frame of the HELP online courses () by the Council of Europe European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals – HELP

After my MA degree in Pedagogical Sciences at Sofia University, Bulgaria, in 1993, I started work at the Bulgarian Center of Human Rights as Head of the Information Unit. Ever since, I have been engaged in a variety of activities and in different positions, from Research to Project Management and National and International Programming and Co-ordination, in the area of (Women’s) Human Rights, Gender Equality and Violence against Women for almost 25 ;

As Vice-President of the EWL, the largest European umbrella network of women’s associations, I am responsible for strategizing the annual program of the EWL, representing EWL at international events, conferences, etc., and creating good communication and coordination between all member organizations of the EWL.

As the Bulgarian national expert on the EWL Observatory on Violence against Women, (Istanbul Convention), I have been responsible to collect, provide and disseminate statistical data and analysis on the current situation in Bulgaria to identify critical and emerging issues and to advocate actions to be taken with the aim to achieve improvements.

As President of the Bulgarian Platform of the EWL, a group of 8 Bulgarian NGOs, I have been leading and coordinating our efforts to lobby for new legislation for protection against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, and for passing legislative measures for ensuring Gender Equality at a national and local level.

Since January, 2018, I started the process of relocating to the country-side of Hungary, and I am now available for free-lance consultancy and/or management of activities and projects related to my areas of experience and expertise.

Over time, I have served on various Advisory Boards, Expert Groups and acted as a consultant at a national and international level in:

o Training social workers and other professionals in providing efficient services to the victims of violence, 

o Running awareness-raising campaigns at national and European level

o Creating cooperation between institutions, academic society and NGOs,

o Lobbying for developing legislation for achieving real gender equality and challenging gender stereotypes.

My main areas of expertise are in the fields of:

o Prevention and protection against Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence

o Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) and its ratification and implementation at national and EU level

o Antidiscrimination Policy and Gender Equality Mechanisms

o Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation

o Women in Decision-making Process

o Women and Media

o The impact of Nationalism/Populism on Women’s Human Rights.

I have published in several books and journals, organized and conducted workshops and seminars, and have been actively involved in various think-tanks, EU wide research projects, and both national and international non-governmental organizations.

Special skills: Communication and negotiating, team building, ability to work in an international and multi-ethnic team, ability to analyze situations and finding solutions to achieve goals.

Languages: Bulgarian, English, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Hungarian (starting)