The Bureau for Integration and Social Innovations hosted the second meeting of the local Migrant Employment Support Club, which was created within the AMIF-funded CONSOLIDATE project with the aim to support employment for migrants in Sofia.
Following the launching event in February, on 20 March 2026 the club organized a second event with migrant business owners, civil society organizations, and women from Ukraine. We were welcomed by Nataliya Georgieva, from Ukraine, who has made Sofia her new home and has started a business running a small bistro in one Sofia’s districts. Nataliya shared her own story from a refugee to a business owner and an employer herself, helping other migrant women find jobs and support their families. Conversations focused on the challenges that women migrants face, from institutional redtape to family and child care obligations. Many of the participants shared that they would appreciate job-seeking and employment options tailored to women, which consider the importance of work-life balance, promote family-based employment and integrated skills recognition, re- and upskilling programs, and mentoring programs for aspiring small business owners.
Ekaterina Yordanova, municipal councilor in Sofia Municipa Council, greeted the participants and shared the commitment of the city to support the integration pathways of migrants and refugees.
Participants welcomed the socio-cultural orientation program developed by BISI which targets third-country employees in the city; such programs are in high demand and would greatly improve migrant women employability, especially if they included a language learning component. The following key ideas and proposals for improving women’s access to the employment were shared during the meeting.
- Implement Fair & Ethical Recruitment: Abolish recruitment fees and ensure transparent, gender-responsive recruitment mechanisms to prevent unfair employment conditions for migrant and refugee women.
- Recognize Skills and Qualifications: Develop systems that recognize the existing skills, certifications, and experience of women migrants and refugees to prevent “deskilling” and allow for career advancement.
- Guarantee Equal Pay and Rights: Ensure equal pay for equal work and fair wages that meet basic living standards. This includes ensuring equal access to social protection (healthcare, sick leave, paid maternity leave) for all occupations. The women’s expectations are that with the transposition of the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive (EU member states are expected to have fully transposed the directive by June 2026), their access to decent work and equal pay will improve. They have also recommended for city administrations and integration offices to launch public information and awareness-raising campaigns among refugee and migrant communities, to ensure they know their rights as job seekers and employees.
- Formulate Gender-Responsive Policies: Tailor labour migration governance to the unique needs of women, such as addressing caregiving responsibilities through affordable, subsidized childcare.
