The Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) received the 2017 Woman of the Year award in the Society category of the GRAZIA magazine contest. The prize was awarded to Nadezhda Dermendzhieva, Gergana Kutseva and Mira Dobreva for their advocacy for equal rights for women and for their active work against gender-based violence.
Upon receiving the award, Nadezhda Dermendzhieva noted that 2017 was marked by a worldwide withdrawal from women’s rights, but also by a great unity and numerous initiatives in direction of women’s rights including the first of its kind March for Women’s Rights, organized by BFW for the International Women’s Day. In the spirit of this year’s theme Without Borders, Ms. Dermendzhieva assured that the Bulgarian Fund for Women works and will continue to work towards abolishing all ‘borders’ in front of men and women as they should no longer exist in the 21st century.
The main message of the Without Borders contest is to show that it is up to all of us to overcome the confusion of our times and the visible and invisible borders on our freedom, aspirations and our lives as a whole. We are the ones to make sure all goals are reachable and all roads towards them remain open.
Magazine GRAZIA’s contest rewards some of the most deserving women in various professional fields for the 12th consecutive year. This year’s nominated ladies were a total of 40 and divided into 10 categories – Models, Designers, Actresses, Music, Sports, Television, Business, Internet, Society and Impactful Message. Each category presents prominent women who have left their unique signature in their respective fields. The winners are selected by online voting.
