Dimitrina Petrova
Contributor, Sofia
Dimitrina’s current interests are focused on devising new strategies for civic activism in East-Central Europe that better suit current geopolitical realities and antidemocratic trends in the region. Based at the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, she leads a project aimed at consolidating the constituency for human rights and strengthening public support for democracy in Bulgaria and Macedonia. The project is the outcome of her 5 months of reflection, while a Reagan Fascell Fellow at NED in Washington DC in 2018, on why democracy is backsliding while illiberal populism is rising in Europe and globally. Dimitrina is also affiliated with SOS Children’s Villages Bulgaria, an organization combining the provision of social services with rights work. From 2007 to 2016, she was executive director of the Equal Rights Trust, a London-based NGO she formed to promote a holistic approach to equality worldwide. Before that, she led the European Roma Rights Centre for its first 11 years (1996-2007). Dimitrina has taught at the Central European University in Budapest and the Kliment Okhridski University in Sofia. She has also spent time evaluating funding applications on behalf of the European Commission, consulting on human rights issues for a variety of organizations, and writing.