DATE: Tuesday, February 5, 2008

TIME & PLACE: 7:00 pm, 325 Brooks Hall

SPEAKER: Ivan Todorov Gruikin

RRI to host event

The Institution of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria and National Community Action Resources are developing ways to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas among the people of the US and Bulgaria. Officially representing the Ombudsman, Mr. Ivan Gruikin will speak to the WVU community on topics ranging from this Bulgarian Initiative through human rights and freedoms in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe to issues of legal and judicial reform. Mr. Gruikin is a highly regarded attorney with an extensive record in the protection of human rights and religious freedoms advocacy. He is currently Advisor to and an official representative of the Ombudsman, whose charge is the protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms from violations by government authorities or public service providers. The Bulgarian Initiative promotes the implementation of common projects, aiming towards

• protection of the social rights of the Bulgarian citizens that are in an unfavorable social and financial state;
• meeting the most basic material needs of said citizens and working towards a permanent increase of their standard of life and their opportunities for socialization and professional realization;
• protection of the environmental rights of the citizens and of their rights of energy conservation and effective use of energy;
• granting support for the development of the educational system and the healthcare system;
• granting support for the social initiatives of the Institution of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria;
• securing the endowment of goods and humanitarian aid – nourishment, construction materials, medical goods and medical facilities, furnishing, school and office equipment, etc.;
• providing assistance to the Bulgarian state and local authorities with view of disaster relief and protection in cases of natural and other disasters;
• providing methodological assistance and expertise to the state and local authorities on the issues of the protection of the rights of citizens that are in an unfavorable social and financial state.