Bolivia

In 2024, Bolivia has made significant strides in fostering gender-responsive economic policies, mechanisms, and programs, strengthening women�s economic empowerment, particularly in the productive and financial sectors. UN Women has collaborated with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Productive Development, financial regulators like the Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI) and the Pensions and Insurance Supervision and Social Control Authority (APS), BancoSol, and economic associations. These alliances have helped integrate gender considerations into financial instruments, policies, and public-private initiatives, ensuring greater inclusion and access to economic opportunities for women. Bolivian financial regulators ASFI and APS have reaffirmed their commitment to advancing financial inclusion for women, promoting more equitable access to credit, savings, and financial services. A total of 40 financial entities and development partners have strengthened their knowledge and tools to foster a more inclusive financial sector. BancoSol, a Financial Inclusion Alliance member, has emerged as a leader in gender-focused financial services, launching Bolivia�s first Gender Social Bond. Under the Women�s Economic Empowerment Principles (WEPs) 2.0 accelerator, the microfinance bank received tailored technical support from UN Women, enhancing its capacity for gender monitoring, reporting, and evaluation. This progress was highlighted globally at the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) meeting. At the policy level, national and local governments, with UN Women�s technical assistance, are developing comprehensive care policies to ensure gender equity in unpaid domestic and care work. These include: A National Care Policy to recognize and redistribute care responsibilities. A Social Reproduction Policy, addressing unpaid labor and care work. Municipal care policies for Santa Cruz and El Alto, integrating localized strategies for care services. Economic opportunities for women have expanded through targeted support programs. 130 micro and small women-led businesses improved productivity and income through the provision of machinery and equipment, while 6 institutions received 111 essential equipment pieces to enhance their operations. Additionally, 4,104 individuals, of whom 3,851 are women, strengthened their business management and technical skills through specialized trainings. A joint initiative between EVAW and WEE programs is empowering women engaged in recycling, fostering their personal and economic autonomy while promoting environmental sustainability. In addition, 2 Indigenous autonomous communities have benefited from technical assistance in gender-sensitive procurement policies. Read more

Plurinational State of Bolivia has incorporated the gender perspective as a priority in the development of environmental and climate change policies This achievement is based on Bolivia's global commitment to promote greater participation of women, especially rural, afro descendants, and indigenous women in decision-making spaces on environmental and climate change (CC) policies. The efforts of the country office (CO) have focused on strengthening the capacities of the Plurinational Authority of Mother Earth (APMT for its acronym in Spanish), Bolivia's focal for the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) through various components of action: Capacity building on gender perspective to apply in their planning and action processes. Technical support to develop a gender focus strategy to have more women in decision-making spaces on CC and mitigation and to mainstream gender in the National Climate Change Policy developed as a joint initiative. Knowledge generation to gather information and analyze the leadership of women's organizations in the field of CC; and a diagnosis of the gender needs and barriers that inhibit women's leadership, especially indigenous women, in climate action. Strengthening presence of rural women leaders of the Platform of Women Against Climate Change, a CSO focus on advocacy action on CC, and the Director of APMT in discussion tables on COP28. UNW has included the work in environmental and CC issues in its Strategic Note and is committed in deepening and crosscutting this approach in all projects and programmes of its 3 strategic areas: In Governance and Political Participation, given the interest of indigenous peoples especially women, on CC, due to affection on their means of life, and the inclusion of the gender perspective in the work of Indigenous autonomies, supporting female authorities and collecting women�s views and ways of relating to mother earth and highlighting the ancestral values to establish harmonious relationships with nature. On Women�s Economic Empowerment area, the continuous mapping of women�s organizations and the identification of their needs and barriers for women�s participation in decision-making spaces on CC. In the Eradication of Violence against Women area, due to the crucial role of women in waste management and recycling that goes unrecognized and unrewarded. A project is being implemented as these inequalities persist at home, work, and within their communities since most of the recyclers are indigenous women with the intention to contribute to mitigate the effects of CC and as a concrete way for them to gain physical and economic autonomy. APMT has expressed its commitment to develop a Plan for Depatriarchalization in Environmental Management with UN Women�s support. Due to successful performance of the CO in environmental and CC issues has allowed it to lead the environmental management for regional climate justice strategy.