Outcome BOL_D_1.1

The state consolidates representative, participatory, community and parity democracy, and strengthens its institutional framework, administration of justice, security organs, transparency and accountability.

In 2025, Bolivia demonstrated measurable progress in strengthening institutional performance to advance parity democracy, protect women’s political rights, and operationalize the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. With UN Women’s technical support, State institutions not only improved their capacities but applied these capacities to design and implement policies, mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks that are now shaping governance, participation, and rule of law outcomes. With technical support from UN Women, the Bolivian State developed and officially presented its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP–WPS) through a participatory and multi-stakeholder process. As a result, 13 state institutions strengthened their technical and intersectoral coordination capacities to integrate gender equality, interculturality, depatriarchalization, and human rights approaches into a national public policy instrument. The inclusive design and coordination mechanisms underpinning the NAP–WPS strengthened institutional ownership and accountability, increasing the conditions for its effective and sustainable implementation. This outcome contributes to national progress on the Women, Peace and Security agenda and advances the achievement of SDGs 5 (Gender Equality) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) transitioned from developing technical knowledge on gender parity to institutionalizing enforceable mechanisms. Through strengthened Gender Unit performance, the TSE incorporated binding provisions into the Regulations for Candidate Registration for the 2026 Subnational Elections. These provisions now enable systematic verification, correction, and prevention of non-compliance with horizontal parity, improving transparency, fairness, and accountability in electoral processes. The Ombudsman’s Office strengthened institutional performance by fully integrating the Early Warning System for Conflicts (SAT) into its operational architecture. The SAT now generates periodic, evidence-based risk analysis reports that guide timely and preventive institutional responses, including risks affecting women’s political participation. In parallel, strengthened technical teams—supported jointly by UN Women and OHCHR—are now applying international human rights standards to monitor conflicts, electoral contexts, and compliance with recommendations on harassment and political violence against women. This has resulted in more specialized, coherent, and accountable institutional action. Governance mechanisms established for the implementation of Law 243 have become operational and functional through the consolidation of Departmental Platforms for Women’s Political Rights. These platforms now serve as coordinated response systems linking justice institutions, electoral bodies, security forces, subnational governments, and women’s organizations. Their performance reflects improved institutional coordination, prevention capacity, and protection pathways for addressing harassment and political violence against women, creating more sustainable and systemic territorial responses. Overall, with the support of UN Women, Bolivian State institutions have not only strengthened capacities but are actively applying them to design, implement, and monitor regulatory frameworks, policies, and mechanisms that promote the substantive participation of women in public life, contributing to a more parity-based, violence-free democracy aligned with international human rights standards, while fulfilling the State’s commitments to the international community on human rights and Women, Peace and Security.

The state consolidates representative, participatory, community and parity democracy, and strengthens its institutional framework, administration of justice, security organs, transparency and accountability.

The implementation of strategic actions has significantly strengthened the institutional capacity of the Bolivian state, providing key rights safeguarding entities with improved conditions for the exercise of their functions related to the respect and promotion of human rights, with a particular focus on women and girls. To achieve this, the generation of evidence has been crucial, focusing on the collection, systematization, and analysis of data. This approach addresses the state of compliance with commitments made by the Bolivian state regarding human rights, as well as the internal institutional context of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indigenous Autonomous Governments. This has facilitated a better understanding of the challenges and gender disparities affecting indigenous women and girls. UN Women technical assistance has translated these insights into concrete normative proposals for local economic development and economic empowerment of indigenous Guaraní women. Notable progress has been observed in Charagua Iyambae and Kereimba Iyaambae, with planned proposals for 2024. Additionally, the development of an Institutional Gender Policy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs represents a significant step towards realizing gender equality across all areas of institutional culture, contributing to the broader goal of depatriarchalization. The validation of this information in participatory spaces has solidified this evidence into essential consultation and working tools for these institutions and for female candidates, elected officials, and authorities at various government levels, as well as public officers. It also reflects an institutional political will and establishes a replicable methodology for other institutions. On the other hand, capacity strengthening has been crucial to ensure that both state institutions and their authorities are equipped with the knowledge to address challenges in achieving gender equality. Nationwide and subnational training initiatives, in partnership with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the State Autonomy Service, and indigenous governments, have contributed to the understanding of public management and normative development through a gender perspective. This empowers authorities to reflect on the rights of indigenous women and girls within the framework outlined in General Recommendation CEDAW/C/GC/39. Strengthening efforts have translated into the creation and dissemination of Guides to report harassment and political violence, serving as precise operational tools for politically active women. Additionally, there has been an improvement in the human rights monitoring infrastructure for women by the Ombudsman's Office. Coordinated efforts with governmental and civil society actors, a UN Women strategy, have heightened the relevance of gender-focused data, provided authorities with necessary information for informed decisions, developed strategies to close gaps, and raised awareness. The collective results significantly impact the conditions of Bolivian state institutions, promoting egalitarian agendas, fostering a culture of peace, facilitating violence-free women's political participation, and prioritizing gender equality in policy and budget design.

The state consolidates representative, participatory, community and parity democracy, and strengthens its institutional framework, administration of justice, security organs, transparency and accountability.

Bolivia has made notable progress in consolidating representatives, participatory, community, and parity democracy, with strengthened institutional frameworks, governance mechanisms, and policies that promote gender equality and the political rights of women, as a result of UN Women strategic support. State institutions, decision-making bodies and indigenous governance structures have increasingly integrated gender-responsive approaches, ensuring that women—particularly those from indigenous communities—can exercise their rights in spaces free from political violence and harassment. In 2024, progress in gender-responsive indigenous governance structures has been significant. The Indigenous Native Peasants Governments of Kereimba Iyaambae, Charagua Iyambae, Uru Chipaya, and Salinas have advanced the implementation of autonomous governance frameworks, integrating gender-responsive perspectives in their systems of self-government from a collective dimension, strengthening public management and local regulations to guarantee individual and collective rights in their territories. Significant advances include the development and approval of gender-sensitive regulations and manuals, legislative proposals, and the recovery and digitization of local regulations. In addition, the capacities of women leaders and authorities have been strengthened in the inclusion of gender and intersectionality, intercultural autonomous management and climate change. In 2024, Bolivia’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP-WPS) was initiated through a collaborative effort among key national stakeholders, including Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Plurinational Women's Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Bolivia to the UN and the State Service of Autonomies following strengthened institutional capacities in gender-responsive governance and peacebuilding. There has been remarkable progress in the representation of women in the judicial sector. Specifically, 19 women (50%) out of a total of 38 authorities were elected to positions within the Judicial Body. This marks a significant step towards gender parity in this instance. The increase in the representation of women in the judiciary is attributed to the efforts of the Bolivian State, civil society organizations and cooperation agencies, aimed at promoting gender equality and the implementation of parity and alternation criteria. In this framework, UN Women has played a crucial role in defending the criteria of parity and alternation and in supporting awareness campaigns on informed voting and women's political rights along with the Plurinational Electoral Body (OEP), the highest instance of the State in electoral matters. UN Women has also worked with women leaders and authorities in executive, Judicial and Legislative bodies at the national and subnational levels, with an emphasis on indigenous governments, promoting their role as rights agents, ensuring that they are informed, so women can exercise a substantive participation in decision-making spaces in coordination and dialogue with their grassroots organizations. This has included addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations, such as women living with HIV/AIDS in Bolivia, whose capacities were increased to exercise substantive participation, promoting dialogue and advocacy for their fundamental rights; and that of women heads of household in the context of humanitarian action, who received support and resources to meet their immediate needs.