On 2 October 2018, the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (CPD) held a press conference where the media were informed about the activities of the CPD under the campaign “Accessible Bulgaria” and the results of the inspections carried out. 

The press conference was opened by Baki Husseinov, Deputy Chairman of the CPD. Members of the CPD Zlatina Dukova, Sabrie Sapundzhieva, Vladimira Stoimenova, Petar Kichashki and Nasko Atanasov were present. An interim report prepared by a working group on the Accessible Bulgaria campaign was presented to the media. The audience was briefed on the priorities of this campaign and their implementation so far. 

Statistics on inspections by city and by site and on the number of cases opened were given. A total of 538 sites were inspected. Of these, 60 are accessible and will be included on the list of sites to be certified for accessibility. In the remaining 478 sites inspected, an inaccessible environment was found and proceedings were initiated. Generalizations and conclusions were made that the inaccessible environment is a nationwide problem. It was also added that never before has such a massive campaign related to the accessibility of the environment been done.

It was stressed that the campaign “Accessible Bulgaria” is open-ended and its aim is to provide an accessible architectural environment for people with disabilities. The perspectives of the campaign work were outlined, pointing out that such summaries of the activities of the CPD related to the inaccessible built environment will be given every three months. 

The press conference received considerable media interest.