Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Sixty-eighth session

28 September–16 October 2020

Consideration of reports: reports submitted by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

Replies of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the list of issues in relation to its third periodic report * , **

[Date received: 3 July 2020]

A.Introduction

1.In 2018, the Plurinational State of Bolivia (“the State” or “Bolivia”), in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“the Covenant”), submitted its third periodic report (E/C.12/BOL/3) to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“the Committee”), having received the related list of issues (E/C.12/BOL/Q/3).

2.Pursuant to the mandate of the inter-agency human rights mechanism, the present document was prepared by the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency, with information provided by State institutions involved in the protection and promotion of human rights.

B.Replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/BOL/Q/3)

I.General information

Reply to paragraph 1 of the list of issues

Statistical data

3.As explained in paragraphs 157 to 167 of its third periodic report, the Bolivian State has taken various measures to ensure the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous original campesino peoples, Afro-Bolivians and other vulnerable groups. The statistics available are set out below:

Right to education

Description	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Dropout rate (per cent)	3.42	2.20	2.65	2.89	2.88	3.32	3.39	2.65	2.53
Urban	4.6	2.87	3.28	3.58	3.50	4.02	4.13	3.35	3.21
Rural	3.13	1.91	2.38	2.59	2.62	3.02	3.08	2.36	2.25
Literacy rate of 15 to 24-year-olds (2)	N/A	99.0	99.3	99.3	99.4	99.4	99.4	99.4	99.6
Urban		98.2	98.4	98.4	99.2	98.7	98.9	98.9	99.4
Rural		99.3	99.6	99.6	99.5	99.6	99.6	99.5	99.6

Source : Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit.

Right to work

Description	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018 (p)
Unemployment rate	3.3	N/A	2.7	2.3	2.9	2.3	3.5	3.1	3.2	3.0
Indigenous	2.3		1.6	1.3	1.3	1.2	2.5	2.6	2.2	1.8
Non-indigenous	4.9		3.6	3.2	4.2	3.5	4.4	4.2	5.0	4.6

Source : Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit.

Right to health

Description	2008	2016
Under-5 mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)	63.0	29.0
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)	50.0	24.0
Percentage of 15 to 49-year-old women using some method of contraception	24.0	32.4
Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women)	88.0	71.0
Teenage pregnancy rate (per cent)	17.9	14.8

Source : Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit.

Right to food

Description	2008	2016
Percentage of children under 5 with chronic malnutrition	27.1	16.0
Percentage of children under 2 with chronic malnutrition	20.3	15.2

Source: Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit, the 2008 national demographic and health survey and the 2018 demographic and health survey.

Rights to water and sanitation

Description	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Percentage of population with access to improved water sources	80.8	82.3	83.9	84.7	85.3	85.7	86.1
Urban	90.2	91.2	92.1	93.3	93.8	94.1	94.3
Rural	61.2	63.7	66.3	66.1	66.4	66.9	67.5
Percentage of population with access to sanitation	52.7	54.8	56.1	57.1	58.6	59.8	60.9
Urban	45.5	61.0	62.6	63.7	65.6	67.0	68.3
Rural	34.5	41.8	42.3	42.6	43.3	43.9	44.3

Source : Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit.

Human rights indicators

4.As explained in paragraphs 102 and 103 of the periodic report, since 2012, the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency, together with the National Institute of Statistics, has been developing human rights indicators that would allow the collection of up-to-date statistical information on the country’s human rights situation. There are currently more than 400 indicators related to structures, processes and outcomes for rights in the following nine priority areas: health, housing, work, food, education, water and sanitation, women’s rights to a life free from violence and to a life free from trafficking and smuggling, and access to justice and a fair trial. These indicators are available on a designated website where the data collected is publicly available.

SIPLUS Bolivia

5.The plurinational system for following up, monitoring and gathering statistics on human rights recommendations in Bolivia (SIPLUS Bolivia), was created with two objectives in mind: firstly, to create a space for high-level technical coordination in the preparation, submission and defence of State reports and, secondly, to allow the State to systematize, search and follow up on recommendations made to the Bolivian State by the different international human rights protection mechanisms of the United Nations.

Reply to paragraph 2 of the list of issues

6.As the Committee is aware, the treaties and other international human rights instruments ratified by the Bolivian State form part of the constitutional body of law and therefore take precedence over domestic legislation, in accordance with the Constitution.

7.Therefore, the Plurinational Constitutional Court, when interpreting the Constitution, applies rules of constitutional law and those flowing from international instruments, such as the Covenant, in order to achieve the full realization of human rights. The following can be cited as examples: Plurinational Constitutional Court decisions No. 0335/2013, No. 0729/2019-S4, No. 1014/2019-S4 and No. 0525/2019-S4, among many others.

Reply to paragraph 3 of the list of issues

Climate change

8.The Ministry of Rural Development and Land has assisted 3,562 families in 151 communities by implementing 233 climate-resilient projects through the ACCESOS Economic Inclusion Programme for Families and Rural Communities, specifically its climate risk component, which is intended to reduce the climate risk facing highly vulnerable communities.

9.Moreover, by Ministerial Decision No. 078 of 29 December 2017, the Ministry of Rural Development and Land adopted the National Strategy for Agricultural Risk Management and Adaptation to Climate Change, which sets out strategic lines of action and responsibilities vis-à-vis climate change and promotes the participation of vulnerable communities (Annex 1).

Paris Agreement

10.By way of national contributions, Bolivia is proposing a number of structural solutions, setting objectives and devising measures for the water, energy, forest and agriculture sectors.

11.For example, in the energy sector, there is a proposal to improve the efficiency of traditional energy plants and to increase the use of alternative energy sources as alternatives to gas-fired power generation. Hydroelectric, solar, wind and geothermal energies are all relevant in this connection. Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures will also be taken.

12.The policies and regulatory framework for the energy and hydrocarbon sector are also set out in the Sectoral Plan for Comprehensive Hydrocarbon Development 2016–2020, which identifies the industrialization of urea and the export of gas as key prerequisites for its effective implementation, insofar as these are the main income-generating activities that support public investment in health, education and access to basic services.

II.Issues relating to the general provisions of the Covenant (arts. 1–5)

Reply to paragraph 4 of the list of issues

Autonomous entities

13.As mentioned in paragraph 24 of the periodic report, the Constitution recognizes four types of autonomous entity: departments, municipalities, regions and indigenous original campesino communities. Under the “Andrés Ibáñez” Framework Act on Autonomous Entities and Decentralization, the autonomous territorial entities, through their respective deliberative bodies, are responsible for drawing up their draft statute or organizational charter to serve as basic regulations for their functioning, which must be approved by two thirds of their members, undergo a constitutional review and be put into effect by means of a referendum.

14.There are currently 24 municipal organizational charters adopted by referendum in force in the Bolivian State, as detailed below.

No.	Date of referendum	Department	Municipality
1	20/9/2015	Cochabamba	Cocapata
2	Tacopaya
3	20/11/2016	Cochabamba	Arque
4	Totora
5	Santa Cruz	El Torno
6	Buena Vista
7	Yapacaní
8	El Puente
9	9/7/2017	La Paz	Achocalla
10	Alto Beni
11	Cochabamba	Shinaota
12	Sicaya
13	Tarija	Uriondo
14	Santa Cruz	Postrervalle
15	Vallegrande
16	25/11/2018	Chuquisaca	San Lucas
17	Zudáñez
18	Cochabamba	Mizque
19	Santa Cruz	Puerto Quijarro
20	26/5/2019	Potosí	Chuquihuta
21	La Paz	Cajuata
22	Santa Cruz	San Juan
23	Mairana
24	Chuquisaca	Villa Alcalá

Source : Office of the Deputy Minister for the Autonomous Entities.

15.Pando, Tarija and Santa Cruz also have departmental autonomy statutes because these were adopted by referendum prior to the entry into force of the current Constitution. These statutes were the subject of an inclusive harmonization process, adopted by the respective departmental legislative assembly and subject to constitutional review.

Date of final statement	Department	Type of consultation	Adopted
12/2/2014	Pando	DAS	Yes
10/3/2015	Tarija	DAS	Yes
15/11/2017	Santa Cruz	DAS	Yes

Source : Office of the Deputy Minister for the Autonomous Entities.

16.The departmental autonomy statutes of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro and Potosí were put to a referendum on 20 September 2015. However, since they were not adopted, a new inclusive drafting process was initiated.

17.Conversely, the departmental autonomy statute of Beni was the subject of an inclusive harmonization process, adopted by the relevant departmental legislative assembly and will be subject to constitutional review.

18.However, in order to improve indigenous original campesino nations and peoples’ access to indigenous original campesino autonomous entities, the Ministry of the Office of the President issued two ministerial decisions (Annex 2), which set out the relevant requirements and procedures.

19.Lastly, from 2009 to 2020, 39 processes related to indigenous original campesino autonomous entities took place. Of these, 3 are under way and involve ongoing institutional development, 1 is at the consolidation stage, 3 were rejected by referendum, 2 are at the stage where the autonomous statute is being drafted, 2 met the requirements for a referendum on converting a municipal autonomous government to an indigenous original campesino autonomous entity, 8 are at the stage where the autonomy statute is awaiting approval pursuant to internal rules and procedures,10 stalled, 6 involve applications for access via indigenous original campesino lands and 4 involve new applications for indigenous original campesino autonomous entities.

Replies to paragraphs 5 and 6 of the list of issues

Prior consultation

20.The Constitution and the Electoral Act guarantee the right to consultation of indigenous original campesino nations and peoples. In the hydrocarbon and mining sectors, this right is established in the Hydrocarbons Act and in the Mining and Metallurgy Act, respectively.

21.Supreme Decrees No. 29033, No. 29124 and No. 29574 lay down procedures for the consultation and participation of indigenous original campesino nations and peoples prior to any hydrocarbon-related activity, initiative or project being carried out.

22.The Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy, acting under the Mining and Metallurgy Act, issued final administrative decisions on prior consultation and decisions on applications for reconsideration, as detailed below.

Period 2016–2019

Decision	2016	2017	2018	2019	Total
Administrative decision	1	30	30	11	72
Decision on application for reconsideration	0	7	8	3	18
Total	1	37	38	14	90

Source : Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy.

23.The Supreme Electoral Court adopted regulations for observing and monitoring prior consultation processes to facilitate the verification of documents and information collected during the deliberative meetings that are part of the prior consultation process. The measures introduced under the Electoral Act concern the implementation of projects, initiatives and activities related to the exploitation of natural mineralogical resources.

24.Between October 2015 and December 2019, the Supreme Electoral Court was notified of and admitted 1,236 prior consultation processes, subject to observation and monitoring, initiated by the Administrative Jurisdictional Authority for the Mining Sector, as detailed in the table below.

Prior consultation processes registered by the Supreme Electoral Court (2015–2019)

No.	Entity	Total processes initiated
1.	Chuquisaca	45
2.	La Paz	437
3.	Cochabamba	113
4.	Oruro	43
5.	Potosí	449
6.	Tarija	31
7.	Santa Cruz	86
8.	Beni	8
9.	Pando	9
10.	Interdepartmental	15
Total	1 236

Source: Monitoring and Registration System of the Intercultural Service for Strengthening Democracy.

25.The Supreme Electoral Court, pursuant to the regulations in force and the relevant observation and monitoring measures, recorded the following information on the status of the prior consultation processes in question.

Status of prior consultation processes (2015–2019)

No.	Entity	Processes concluded with plenary decision	Withdrawal	In process
1.	Chuquisaca	28	0	17
2.	La Paz	260	13	164
3.	Cochabamba	59	2	52
4.	Oruro	28	3	12
5.	Potosí	272	18	159
6.	Tarija	27	0	4
7.	Santa Cruz	54	0	32
8.	Beni	8	0	0
9.	Pando	9	0	0
10.	Interdepartmental	8	0	7
Total	753	36	447

Source: Monitoring and Registration System of the Intercultural Service for Strengthening Democracy.

26.Likewise, the Supreme Electoral Court developed technical instruments for verifying the information and data collected during the observation (instruments 1, 2 and 3) and monitoring (instruments 4 and 5) procedures related to the prior consultation of indigenous original campesino nations and peoples.

27.In applying this measure, the Departmental Electoral Courts verified and documented, during the deliberative meetings held as part of the dialogue between the mining production actor and the people or nation being consulted, the status of compliance with the minimum criteria established in each technical instrument and summarized in the respective observation and monitoring reports, with the Supreme Electoral Court recording the following results.

Status of compliance with the minimum criteria for prior consultation

No.	Entity	Processes concluded with decision
Comply	Do not comply	Total
1.	Chuquisaca	15	13	28
2.	La Paz	155	105	260
3.	Cochabamba	51	8	59
4.	Oruro	17	11	28
5.	Potosí	55	217	272
6.	Tarija	13	14	27
7.	Santa Cruz	34	20	54
8.	Beni	0	8	8
9.	Pando	1	8	9
10.	Interdepartmental	1	7	8
Total	342	411	753

Source: Plurinational Electoral Bureau – Monitoring and Registration System of the Intercultural Service for Strengthening Democracy.

28.In addition, external and internal activities were conducted to promote and strengthen the capacity of the staff making up the Intercultural Service for Strengthening Democracy, which is part of the Departmental Electoral Courts and the Supreme Electoral Court.

29.When it comes to extractive activities, the relevant sectoral legislation establishes, with respect to environmental policies and their effect on the area of influence or implementation of the project, initiative or activity, the deferred effect of the prior consultation, making specific reference to the presence of a number of environmental components, including, at the very least, the flora or vegetation of the territory in which these projects, initiatives or activities are to be carried out.

30.Moreover, the Act on the protection of highly vulnerable indigenous original nations and peoples is in the process of being implemented.

Reply to paragraph 7 of the list of issues

Available resources

31.Subparagraph (a), which concerns the proportion of people living below the poverty line, refers to the percentage of the population in the middle-income bracket.

Description	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Percentage of population in the middle-income bracket	46.2	N/A	51.6	53.2	56.7	56.3	57.3	56.3	58.9	61.6

Source: Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit, based on a household survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics.

32.With regard to subparagraph (b), which concerns the proportion of public revenue that is generated through taxes, the following data are available.

Description	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Tax revenue as a percentage of total revenue1	71.4	74.3	77.4	78.1	79.1	77.3	77.7	77.4	75.6	77.4

Source : Ministry of the Economy and Public Finance.

1 At the level of the General Government, which includes entities of the Central Government, departmental and municipal autonomous governments, and social security entities.

33.With regard to subparagraph (c), under the Tax Reform Act, the rates of tax levied on corporate profits and personal income in particular are as follows:

Name	Taxable entity	Tax base	Tax rate
Business profit tax	All public and private companies established in the national territory that carry out economic activities.	The profits earned by the enterprises or companies from economic activities carried out in the country. Remittances abroad (considered in this case to be 50 per cent).	25 per cent (overall rate)
Additional 25 per cent (financial intermediation institutions with a cost benefit ratio of more than 6 per cent)
Additional 12.5 per cent (mining companies when the price of minerals is favourable)
Mining surtax (25 per cent on excess profit)
12.5 per cent (business profit tax on remittances abroad)

Source : National Tax Service.

34.With regard to subparagraph (d), public expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and, within total public expenditure, the proportion of the public budget that is allocated to social spending (social security, food, water and sanitation, housing, health and education) is shown in the table below.

Description	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
General Government expenditure as a percentage of GDP1	34.8	30.9	33.9	33.2	35.4	40.2	40.6	34.6	34.3	34.0
Public social expenditure as a percentage of General Government expenditure2	N/A	56.3	56.9	55.6	56.1	57.2	57.9	59.3	N/A	N/A

Source : Ministry of the Economy and Public Finance.

1 At the level of the General Government, which includes entities of the Central Government, departmental and municipal autonomous governments, and social security entities.

2 Total public expenditure and social public expenditure correspond to the consolidated expenditure of the General Government and municipal companies fulfilling a social function.

N/ A Not available.

Reply to paragraph 8 of the list of issues

35.Pursuant to its mandate, the National Committee against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination has carried out different activities and introduced public policies to disseminate and raise awareness of the Act on the Elimination of Racism and All Forms of Discrimination.

36.The Multisectoral Plan to Combat Racism and All Forms of Discrimination 2016–2020 was prepared and implemented on the basis of the impact assessment of the National Policy to Combat Racism and All Forms of Discrimination 2012–2015, with appropriate follow-up having been given to the compliance-related results obtained (Annex 3).

37.Training activities and information campaigns for various groups, including law enforcement officials and justice officials, were conducted; student youth brigades and units to combat racism and all forms of discrimination were set up within executive branch entities; and the National Directorate for Decolonization and Institutional Doctrine was established within the Bolivian police force.

38.The Decade for Bolivians of African Descent was declared between 2015 and 2024 and the plan for its implementation, which covers the period 2016–2024, was drawn up.

39.A protocol for receiving, prosecuting and punishing cases of racism and all forms of discrimination was also adopted. The protocol stipulates that, in the face of possible offences involving violence and discrimination against women, indigenous peoples or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, departmental prosecutor’s offices must act ex officio and give priority to the related proceedings.

40.Between 2010 and 2019, 1,771 complaints of racism and discrimination were registered by the National Committee against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, as detailed below.

Number of complaints of racism and discrimination registered

Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Total
Total	19	139	192	189	194	196	239	210	233	160	1 771

Source : Office of the Deputy Minister for Decolonization of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

41.Since 2014, the following budgetary resources have been assigned.

Year	Programme	Budget allocated	Total budget
2014	Functioning of the technical secretariat of the National Committee	Bs 326 900 . 00	Bs 750 000 . 00
	Training on using the “ Sisa Katari ” national system for registering and following up on complaints of acts of racism and discrimination at the national and departmental levels.	Bs 20 000 . 00
	Management of the National Committee	Bs 144 100 . 00
	Strategic campaign to combat racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 209 000 . 00
	Support for academic research on combating racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 50 000 . 00
2015	Strategic campaign to combat racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 286 820 . 00	Bs 850 000 . 00
Functioning of the technical secretariat of the National Committee	Bs 327 900 . 00
Management of the National Committee	Bs 135 280 . 00
Consolidation of the system for handling complaints of racism and discrimination	Bs 50 000.00
First national competition for research on combating racism and discrimination	Bs 50 000 . 00
2016	Combating racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 50 000 . 00	Bs 900 000 . 00
Consolidation of the system for handling complaints of racism and discrimination	Bs 26 000 . 00
Consolidation of student brigades to combat racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 24 000 . 00
Second national competition for research on combating racism and discrimination	Bs 50 000 . 00
Functioning of the offices of the technical secretariat of the National Committee	Bs 328 000 . 00
Management of the National Committee	Bs 210 000 . 00
Strategic campaign to combat racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 212 000 . 00
2017	Combating racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 841 200 . 00	Bs 841 200 . 00
2018	Combating racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 782 280 . 00	Bs 782 280 . 00
2019	Combating racism and all forms of discrimination	Bs 759 428 . 00	Bs 759 428 . 00

Source : Office of the Deputy Minister for Decolonization.

Reply to paragraph 9 of the list of issues

42.In accordance with the Gender Identity Act, the Personal Identity Service adopted gender identity regulations to govern the procedure for issuing identity cards for transgender persons. Between 2016 and 2018, 242 such identity cards were issued.

43.The Civil Registration Service adopted regulations for changing the name and sex on the birth certificates of transgender persons, under which it has been processing requests since 2016, as shown below.

Department	Total requests processed	Cumulative total
2016	2017	2018	2019
Chuquisaca	3	9	5	1	18
La Paz	27	23	19	23	92
Cochabamba	13	16	21	23	73
Oruro	2	8	2	0	12
Potosí	2	4	3	7	16
Tarija	5	3	8	7	23
Santa Cruz	16	28	20	35	99
Beni	4	1	4	9	18
Pando	0	0	0	0	0
Total	72	92	82	105	351

Source : Supreme Electoral Court.

Reply to paragraph 10 of the list of issues

44.The Refugee Protection Act provides that all refugees and asylum seekers are to enjoy all the rights and freedoms recognized in the domestic legal system and in the international human rights instruments ratified by Bolivia. Moreover, asylum seekers are able to obtain a temporary status, which allows them to exercise their rights to education, health care and employment without discrimination while the National Commission for Refugees takes a decision on their application for asylum in Bolivia.

45.The National Commission for Refugees has taken the following measures to assist the refugee population:

Signed, on 12 October 2016, the Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Federation of Municipal Associations for the inclusion of refugees in municipal programmes.

Signed, on 12 October 2016, the Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Chávez S.R.L. pharmacy chain to provide refugees with free medical consultations at the Chávez Solidarity Medical Centres.

Signed, on 14 December 2016, the Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Autonomous Government of Cochabamba Department for the adoption of coordinated measures to ensure the inclusion and civic participation of refugees.

Signed, on 15 February 2017, the Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Autonomous Government of La Paz Department to undertake joint activities to promote and encourage the civic integration of refugees.

Signed, on 22 June 2017, the Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Education to facilitate refugees’ timely and effective access to general, alternative and higher education in Bolivia.

46.Furthermore, with regard to the measures taken to identify, prevent and address sexual and gender-based violence against refugees and asylum seekers, the Comprehensive Act to Guarantee Women a Life Free from Violence (Act No. 348) provides for mechanisms, measures and comprehensive policies to ensure that women in situations of violence receive care, protection and reparation, to prevent such situations from occurring and to ensure that their attackers are prosecuted and punished, with a view to guaranteeing women a life of dignity. This law is in force throughout the entire national territory and therefore also applies to asylum seekers and refugees in Bolivia.

Reply to paragraph 11 of the list of issues

47.The Multisectoral Plan to Eliminate Patriarchalism and Promote the Right of Women to Live Well, which was put into operation on 27 July 2017, involves 10 ministries from the executive branch and provides for the possibility of matching their respective competencies to specific areas of intervention.

48.As at 2018, the implementation status of the Multisectoral Plan to Eliminate Patriarchalism and Promote the Right of Women to Live Well showed that considerable strides had been made in applying the measures provided for therein, since the results obtained revealed that significant progress had been made against 35 indicators, middling progress had been made against 5 indicators and little progress had been made against 9 indicators.

49.In addition, the Ministry of Production Development and Plural Economy designed a project for mainstreaming a gender equality perspective based on the elimination of patriarchalism. Likewise, the Ministry of Rural Development and Land, through its programmes, projects and dependent entities, has closed the participation gap between men and women in agricultural activities, where the participation rate is 46 per cent for women and 54 per cent for men.

III.Issues relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant (arts. 6–15)

Reply to paragraph 12 of the list of issues

Measures to generate sources of employment

50.The Job Creation Scheme was created in order to generate employment opportunities. It has seven components, which, through infrastructure projects, economic incentives for companies and financing for entrepreneurs, yielded the following results in 2019:

Component 1: Urban Infrastructure Programme with an investment of $40 million under which urban infrastructure improvement projects were implemented by the end of the 2019, generating 22,560 direct and indirect jobs.

Component 2: Programme for the Protection and Enhancement of Areas of Production, which, with an investment of $40 million, promotes economic development in departments through river canalization and soil stabilization projects, and risk reduction and climate change adaptation at the municipal level, with the aim of generating 5,000 jobs.

Component 3: Productive projects financed by the Indigenous Development Fund. With an investment of $200 million, 1,392 productive projects had been implemented by the end of 2019 in the country’s nine departments and in more than 300 municipalities, generating 112,716 direct and indirect jobs and benefiting 352,862 families.

Component 4: Seed Capital Fund, under which the Productive Development Bank offers loans to recently created micro and small businesses and to new technical staff/professionals who need to finance their ventures. By the end of 2019, 1,215 businesses in 101 municipalities of the country’s nine departments had benefited from these loans worth Bs 77,406,607, which had financed 155 activities in the production and service sectors.

Component 5: Labour Market Integration Programme, the purpose of which is to place young people with or without previous experience and with or without higher education in 21,000 decent jobs through hiring unskilled workers, hiring skilled workers and on-site training. In 2019, 4,043 young people with an average age of 26 years, of whom 1,959 were female and 2,084 were male, benefited from this programme nationwide.

Component 6: Careers Guidance, which is an additional component of the National Employment Scheme. In 2019, 33,504 young people from 335 educational establishments received careers guidance through 860 workshops held in the country’s nine departments.

Component 7: Job creation incentives in public procurement, which consists of granting up to a 5 per cent margin of preference in procurement processes in the form of competitive bidding to companies that create jobs in addition to those required by the relevant technical standards.

51.Furthermore, as mentioned in paragraph 179 of the periodic report, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare has launched the Employment Support Programme II, which, between 2014 and 2019, has benefited 25,053 people, as detailed below.

Beneficiaries of the Employment Support Programme, according to economic sector where they carried out their on-site training

Sector	Employment Support Programme	Employment Support Programme II	Total
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Production	813	1 293	1 961	102	714	1 225	6 108
Trade	265	700	708	65	270	550	2 558
Services	936	2 425	2 946	531	1 490	2 560	10 888
Unspecified	2 499						2 499
Total	4 513	4 418	5 615	698	2 474	4 335	22 053

Source: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, General Directorate of Employment, Employment Support Programme.

Protection measures for women and girls

52.The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare provides training to women in the mining sector on sex-based division of labour and on unpaid domestic work performed by women as an economic contribution, having trained 183 women in 2019.

53.Pursuant to the Comprehensive Act on Combating Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons (Act No. 263), the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare implemented the Labour Market Integration Programme for Victims of Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons, under which three repatriated victims of trafficking were placed in jobs and prevention and outreach activities were conducted, benefiting 357 people (Annex 4).

Youth

54.In 2019, draft youth employment policy guidelines were prepared through interchange forums known as “departmental dialogues on youth employment”. This exercise helped to coordinate efforts by departmental and regional governments to develop public employment policies for young people in each department.

55.Strategic alliances were also formed with central State institutions and with civil society organizations that are part of the Youth Employment Network, since these are expected to play a role in implementing the aforementioned guidelines. This is in addition to the setting up of an expert committee.

Persons deprived of their liberty and persons at liberty after having served a prison term

56.In order to integrate this population group into the labour market, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare took the following measures:

Provided occupational and job placement training.

Conducted a survey in prisons and put forward a proposal for a pilot project to reintegrate into the labour market persons at liberty after having served a sentence.

Developed strategic guidelines for reintegrating persons deprived of their liberty into the labour market.

57.Work is currently under way on a survey on the situation in prisons and on the economic activity of persons deprived of their liberty, and on a specific plan for the reintegration into the labour market of persons at liberty after having served a sentence as part of the Employment Support Programme.

Persons with disabilities

58.Pursuant to the Act on Employment and Economic Assistance for Persons with Disabilities (Act No. 977), a labour inclusion policy, a labour inclusion plan and a labour inclusion pilot project for persons with disabilities were developed and are being implemented under the Employment Support Programme II. To date, they have yielded the following results:

Twenty-five short training courses have been delivered in office information technology, customer service, basic public accounting and soft skills for persons with disabilities, with a total of 377 beneficiaries.

Outreach activities relating to Act No. 977 have been carried out in 80 public institutions and 200 private companies in La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Oruro.

An online course entitled “Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the Labour Market” has been organized for public servants and private company employees, with a total of 84 persons having benefited from the two iterations of the course.

59.Moreover, pursuant to Act No. 977, which provides for the placement of persons with disabilities in jobs in the public and private sectors, the employment exchange run by the Public Employment Service of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare keeps a record of persons with disabilities who are registered as job seekers.

Disability sector job seekers registered with the Public Employment Service, by department

Department	2017	2018	2019	Total
La Paz	127	154	183	464
Santa Cruz	30	97	93	220
Cochabamba	16	55	71	142
Chuquisaca	15	76	35	126
Tarija	7	18	46	71
Potosí	26	19	21	66
Oruro	3	32	10	45
Pando	4	6	16	26
Beni	2	6	5	13
Total	230	463	480	1 173

Source: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, General Directorate of Employment.

60.In this sector, job placements are arranged based on the employment profile of the persons with disabilities concerned and on the job vacancies available.

Number of persons placed through the Public Employment Service of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare (2017–2018)

Group	Employment exchange	Beneficiaries of the Employment Support Programme II
Direct job placements	Placed
2017
Population with disabilities	17	1	5
2018
Population with disabilities	206	72	44
2019
Population with disabilities	123	21	153

Source: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, General Directorate of Employment.

Note: The Employment Support Programme promotes labour market integration through pre-employment training.

61.Compliance with the percentage of labour market integration stipulated in Act No. 977 is monitored and data from monthly payrolls and salaries are transmitted to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare.

62.The labour inclusion pilot project for persons with disabilities is being implemented on the basis of a loan contract signed with the Inter-American Development Bank and executed as part of the Employment Support Programme II.

Persons with disabilities who were beneficiaries of the Employment Support Programme II in 2018 and 2019

Department	2018	2019
Chuquisaca	3	11
La Paz	16	36
Cochabamba	5	46
Oruro	4	4
Potosí	5	8
Tarija	6	32
Santa Cruz	5	7
Beni	0	2
Pando	0	7
Total	44	153

Source: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, General Directorate of Employment.

Reply to paragraph 13 of the list of issues

Child and forced labour

63.As mentioned in paragraph 129 of the report submitted to the Committee, the Constitution expressly prohibits forced labour and child exploitation and provides that activities carried out by children and adolescents in family and social settings must contribute to their comprehensive development and have a formative function, and that, to this end, their right to protection, safeguards for this protection and the institutional mechanisms in place to guarantee such protection should be set out in special regulations.

64.Therefore, in keeping with the country’s commitments under the International Labour Organization (ILO) Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Plurinational Constitutional Court, by decision No. SCP 0025/2017 of 21 July, ruled on and declared unconstitutional the provisions of the Children and Adolescents Code establishing, in exceptional circumstances, 10 years of age as the minimum age for self-employment and 14 years of age as the minimum age for employment. On 1 December 2018, Act No. 1139 was promulgated in accordance with the aforementioned Constitutional Court decision.

65.The 2008 child labour survey identified 800,000 children and adolescents who were engaged in child labour. According to the 2016 survey on children and adolescents, that figure had dropped to 393,000 – that is, by more than 50 per cent.

66.A subcouncil for sectoral and intersectoral coordination in matters concerning working children and adolescents was set up within the Council for Sectoral and Intersectoral Coordination in Children and Adolescents’ Affairs. The subcouncil plans to develop a prevention and social protection programme for working children and adolescents under 14 years of age.

67.The Programme for the Care of Working Children and Adolescents was launched to prevent working students from falling behind in their studies and to ensure that they complete their secondary education and have access to scholarships for higher education. Inspectors specializing in child labour conduct comprehensive inspections on a regular basis to identify situations of forced labour and child labour in remote locations, usually in the mining, chestnut and agricultural sectors. Between 2014 and 2018, 1,639 inspections were conducted nationwide.

68.The bodies responsible for protecting children and adolescents at the national, departmental and municipal levels have a duty to remove children and adolescents from work situations that are unsafe, unhealthy or detrimental to their dignity, to prevent them from returning to dangerous activities and to provide advice and temporary support to enable them to find work in an area where their rights are protected.

69.The unit for the progressive eradication of child labour, which is attached to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, in coordination with its departmental and regional offices, is responsible for enforcing labour rights by conducting inspections in urban and rural areas throughout the country, with a special focus on regions where child and adolescent labour may exist.

70.As indicated in paragraphs 130 to 133 of the periodic report, various actions and measures have been taken to eradicate child and forced labour. The results obtained between 2010 and 2019 are detailed below.

Activity	Year
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Total
Inspections of farms and cattle ranches in Chaco, the Amazon region and the Integrated North	531	550	500	804	605	186	3 176
Hearings for the resolution of social and employment-related disputes concerning unpaid wages	161	611	556	679	645	713	3 365
Indigenous original workers who participated in events to raise awareness of and promote social and labour rights (no. of trainees)	870	1 887	1 541	2 470	3 833	3 402	14 003
Workers who received assistance in exercising their social and labour rights (no. of complaints addressed)	434	1 241	1 612	3 973	3 467	713	11 440
Amounts unpaid or recovered in favour of workers	1 949 . 56	2 438 . 55	2 082 . 87	3 453 787	5 077 712	1 779 . 46	16 781 . 93
Cases referred to the labour courts	145	57	83	89	51	0	425
Cases referred to the INRA	26	2	3	0	0	0	31
Agricultural companies included in the ROE	15	29	46	76	1	0	167
Mobile offices installed and staffed				20	20	20	60

Source: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, Fundamental Rights Unit.

Reply to paragraph 14 of the list of issues

71.As explained in paragraph 190 of the periodic report, persons insured and entitled to a pension under the Comprehensive Pension System may receive pension benefits for retirement, disability or death, in accordance with the requirements and conditions set out in the Pensions Act (No. 065).

72.Pursuant to the aforementioned Act, a gender protection policy was implemented. The policy entails increasing the number of contributions made by the insured woman from 12 for each child born alive up to a maximum of 36, or decreasing the statutory retirement age by one year for each child born alive, up to a maximum of three years.

73.Disability pensions are paid until the insured person reaches 65 years of age or until his or her death, if this occurs before that age. Moreover, survivors’ pensions are paid to entitled persons for life or on a temporary basis, as appropriate.

74.As for older persons, Act No. 3791 introduced the “dignity pension”, which is a lifetime universal non-contributory old-age pension.

75.Since 2014, the introduction of the above measures has resulted in a greater number of insured persons’ gaining access to long-term non-contributory social security benefits, such as a retirement pension, a disability pension or a survivors’ pension, as detailed below.

Persons entitled to a retirement pension under the Compulsory Social Security Scheme and the Comprehensive Pension System

Year	Female	Male	Cumulative total
2014	17 997	54 937	72 934
2015	22 361	64 891	87 252
2016	27 035	75 511	102 546
2017	32 586	87 095	119 681
2018	38 458	97 921	136 379
2019*	44 166	108 187	152 353

Source: Pensions and Insurance Monitoring and Control Authority.

* Information as at November 2019.

Persons entitled to a retirement pension under the Compulsory Social Security Scheme and the Comprehensive Pension System, by type of pension

Year	CCM	JUBCC	MVV	PM-CCM	PM-JUBCC	PM-MVV	PM-V	SV	PV	PSV	Cumulative total
2014	7 496	207	18 141	36	0	905	3	1 908	8 965	35 273	72 934
2015	8.42	203	18 216	24	0	612	2	1 894	12 189	45 692	87 252
2016	9.22	207	18 346	22	0	478	2	1 882	14 757	57 632	102 546
2017	10 186	200	17 972	40	0	420	0	1 879	18 269	70 715	119 681
2018	10 557	194	17 585	39	0	352	0	1 862	20 535	85 255	136 379
2019*	11 886	188	17 436	28	0	331	0	1 847	22 515	98 122	152 353

Source: Pensions and Insurance Monitoring and Control Authority.

* Information as at November 2019.

JUBCC Retirement contracts involving the monthly payment of contributions only, in force until June 2003.

MVV Retirement contracts involving variable lifetime monthly payments concluded with a Pension Fund Administrator.

SV Life insurance retirement contracts concluded with an insurance company.

CCM Contracts involving the monthly payment of contributions (Pension Fund Administrator).

PM Minimum pension contracts concluded with a Pension Fund Administrator or an insurance company.

PV Old-age pension retirement agreements (Act No. 065) signed with Pension Fund Administrators.

Insured persons in receipt of a disability pension, by type of risk

Year	Insured persons	Total
RC	RP/RL
2014	3 356	2 615	5 971
2015	3 944	3 276	7 220
2016	4 709	4 147	8 856
2017	5 346	4 915	10 261
2018	5 863	5 660	11 523
2019*	6 375	6 229	12 604

Source: Pensions and Insurance Monitoring and Control Authority.

* Information as at November 2019.

RC Common risk.

P Professional risk.

RL Occupational risk.

Insured persons entitled to a risk-related survivors’ pension

Year	No. of persons	Total
RC	RP/RL
2014	9 781	2 397	12 178
2015	10 757	2 647	13 404
2016	11 705	2 899	14 604
2017	12 694	3 134	15 828
2018	13 599	3 369	16 968
2019*	14 188	3 604	17 792

Source: Pensions and Insurance Monitoring and Control Authority.

* Information as at November 2019.

RC Common risk.

PR Professional risk.

RL Occupational risk.

76.Likewise, there was a steady increase in the number of insured persons registered in the Comprehensive Pension System (Annex 5), an increase in the number of insured persons without salaried employment registered in the Comprehensive Pension System (Annex 6), a rise in pension system revenue (Annex 7), dignity pension payments (Annex 8) and payments of funeral expenses (Annex 9).

Reply to paragraph 15 of the list of issues

77.The Sectoral and Inter-agency Council for a Life Free of Violence was created and, in 2017, adopted the Multisectoral Plan to Eliminate Patriarchalism and Promote the Right of Women to Live Well, whose results depend on intersectoral and intergovernmental performance.

78.A number of services were also created or strengthened to promote the reporting of gender-based violence, such as:

Integrated plurinational justice services responsible for receiving complaints and for providing guidance and legal representation.

A plurinational service for the defence of victims, responsible for supporting victims who lack sufficient means by providing free legal representation and psychological support to guarantee their access to justice.

Comprehensive municipal legal services, which come under the authority of the autonomous municipal governments and are the main services responsible for providing women with comprehensive care.

Safe houses, which have the basic services and infrastructure necessary for them to operate.

The Anti-violence Squad, a specialized division of the Bolivian police force responsible for providing assistance and for investigating and apprehending alleged perpetrators of gender-based violence.

The Public Prosecution Service’s chain of care and protection for women in situations of violence, which comprises specialized prosecutor’s offices for priority victims, victim and witness protection units and the Forensic Investigation Institute.

79.In 2019, the Special Office for Combating Violence against Women was established, as was the “Ana María Romero” Plurinational Service for Women and for Dismantling the Patriarchy, which is responsible for monitoring and assessing compliance with public policies designed to dismantle the patriarchy, to ensure the effective exercise of women’s rights and to promote the eradication of all types of violence and forms of discrimination against women.

80.On 15 July 2019, the Office adopted a list of 10 principles, thereby declaring the fight against femicide and violence against women, girls and female adolescents to be a national priority, and is currently working on an action plan to combat femicide and machista violence, which is a strategic response to the high rates of violence recorded.

81.The following results were obtained in 2019:

The promulgation of Supreme Decree No. 4012 amending Supreme Decree No. 2145 of 14 October 2014, the regulations implementing Act No. 348, which, among other things, require the autonomous territorial entities to channel resources into activities to prevent violence against women and children and adolescents, the building and maintenance of safe houses, temporary shelters and comprehensive municipal legal services (Annex 10).

The issuance of Ministerial Decision No. 0854/2019 by the Ministry of Education, which provides that the twenty-fifth day of each month will be marked by days for the prevention of physical, psychological and sexual violence in the educational sphere (Annex 11).

The signing of the Inter-agency Agreement for the Elimination of Impunity between the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency, the Ministry of the Interior, the Plurinational Service for Women and for Dismantling the Patriarchy, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Council of the Judiciary, the Public Prosecution Service and the Bolivian police force (Annex 12).

The signing of an agreement with the media for the dissemination of messages aimed at preventing violence and for the self-regulation of its content (Annex 13).

82.As for legislative advances intended to guarantee access to justice, the Act on Summary Criminal Procedure and Strengthening Measures to Combat Violence against Children, Adolescents and Women (Act No. 1173) was promulgated with the aim of, inter alia, achieving the prompt and timely resolution of criminal cases, providing protection to women, children and adolescents who are victims of violence, avoiding re-victimization, reducing recourse to pretrial detention and guaranteeing favourable treatment to pregnant women, nursing mothers with children under 1 year of age, children with disabilities under 6 years of age who are in the care of the accused person, and older persons, as well as guaranteeing the right to technology.

83.Furthermore, in accordance with Act No. 348 and provided that the judiciary has sufficient resources available, courts specializing in cases of violence against women were established. These include 18 courts of investigation, 2 sentencing courts and 1 sentencing tribunal. Subsequently, in 2019, six additional courts were created with resources from the State Treasury. To date, there are a total of 27 courts and tribunals specializing in cases involving violence and anti-corruption matters.

Courts and tribunals specializing in cases involving violence against women and anti-corruption matters established during the period 2013–2019

Entity	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Total
Courts of investigation specializing in cases involving violence against women and anti-corruption matters	0	4	1	1	3	8	7	24
Sentencing courts specializing in cases involving violence against women and anti-corruption matters	0	2						2
Sentencing tribunals specializing in cases of violence against women	0	1						1
Total	0	7	1	1	3	8	7	27

Source: Council of the Judiciary.

Replies to paragraph 16 of the list of issues

84.As indicated in paragraphs 115 to 118 of the periodic report, the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency, as the lead agency of the Comprehensive Plurinational Protection System for Children and Adolescents, implemented the Plurinational Plan for Children and Adolescents, which includes the Comprehensive Programme to Combat Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents, the objectives of which are:

To promote the introduction of measures, procedures and tools to prevent, protect and provide comprehensive care to children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence.

To build on the expertise of professionals working in that area.

To ensure the availability of official up-to-date information on situations in which children and adolescents are victims of sexual violence.

To design and implement, as a security measure, a national registration system to monitor persons convicted of sexual offences against children and adolescents.

85.The follow-up to the implementation of the aforementioned programme yielded the following results at the departmental and municipal levels (Annex 14):

A total of 232 children, adolescents, women and older persons who are victims of sexual violence received care from the Autonomous Government of the Potosí Department.

A total of 229 cases involving children and adolescents who are victims of some form of sexual violence were addressed and 123 therapy sessions were organized by the Autonomous Government of La Paz Department.

More than 792 children and adolescents who are victims of some form of sexual violence received care from the Autonomous Government of Tarija Department.

A total of 52 patients are receiving therapy, 14 cases have been registered, 18 cases have been closed and 17 cases have not been addressed. Moreover, in 2019, more than 792 children and adolescents who are victims of some form of sexual violence received care from the Autonomous Government of Beni Department.

More than 24 children and adolescents who are victims of some form of sexual violence received care from the Autonomous Government of Pando Department.

A total of 1,258 cases involving children and adolescents who are victims of some form of sexual violence were addressed by the Autonomous Government of Santa Cruz Department.

Cases were addressed and inter-agency cooperation agreements were signed, which served to strengthen preventive measures in educational establishments coming under the authority of the Autonomous Government of El Alto Department.

A total of 150 cases involving sexual violence against children and adolescents were addressed by the Autonomous Government of Trinidad Department.

A total of 426,881 cases involving sexual violence against children and adolescents were addressed by the Autonomous Government of Santa Cruz Department.

A total of 5,613 adolescents received training on preventing violence against women and sexual violence from the Autonomous Government of La Paz Department.

86.Similarly, the victim and witness protection units of the departmental prosecutor’s offices have multidisciplinary teams that can provide victims with immediate, prompt, timely and specialized care.

87.As for campaigns to prevent corporal punishment, the Bolivian State has fostered a culture of good treatment known as #YoPorLaNiñez, which is founded on the dissemination of messages of love and protection for children and adolescents, the prevention of crimes against children and adolescents, access to justice and the restoration of victims’ rights.

Reply to paragraph 17 of the list of issues

88.As indicated in paragraphs 104 to 113 of the periodic report, the measures taken reduced poverty from 63.2 per cent in 2001 to 34.6 per cent in 2018, and reduced extreme poverty from 38.9 per cent in 2001 to 15.2 per cent in 2018.

89.The following data are available on the percentage of the population living in moderate or extreme poverty, disaggregated by whether the individuals concerned are indigenous or non-indigenous, and by gender, as detailed below.

Description	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018(p)
Percentage of the population living in moderate poverty	51.3	N/A	45.1	43.3	38.9	39.1	38.6	39.5	36.4	34.6
Indigenous	58.6		56.7	58.1	54.2	50.0	49.9	48.9	47.7	46.7
Non-indigenous	41.5		37.3	34.0	29.5	31.6	31.9	32.7	29.3	27.8
Women	52.1		46.1	44.4	40.2	40.6	39.9	40.4	37.4	35.2
Male	50.5		44.1	42.2	37.5	37.7	37.2	38.5	35.4	33.9
Percentage of the population living in extreme poverty	26.1	N/A	21.0	21.6	18.7	17.2	16.8	18.3	17.1	15.2
Indigenous	33.0		33.7	36.8	33.0	27.5	26.8	27.2	27.1	25.9
Non-indigenous	16.7		12.4	12.1	9.8	10.0	11.0	11.8	10.7	9.1
Women	26.4		21.2	22.1	19.0	17.6	17.7	19.0	17.8	15.4
Male	25.7		20.7	21.1	18.4	16.6	16.0	17.6	16.5	15.0

Source: Ministry of Development Planning, Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit, based on a household survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics.

N/ A Not available.

p Preliminary.

90.The unemployment rate also fell from 8.5 per cent in 2001 to 4.3 per cent in 2018, as shown in the graph below.

91.In addition, the measures taken to assist vulnerable population groups had an impact on fertility, maternal care and under-five mortality rates, as shown below.

92.The Productive Development Bank was created to guarantee women access to financial credit. The Bank’s principles include gender equity in the distribution of productive investment resources, which translates into allocating to women 50 per cent of the total financial resources available.

93.Between 2015 and 2018, workshops were held on financial education, production and commercial management and climate change. These were attended by a total of 76,249 participants, 44 per cent of whom were women and 56 per cent of whom were men. Moreover, in 2018, 11,202 women received generic technical assistance compared to 12,577 men.

94.Specific financial programmes for women, such as the Seed Capital Fund, were implemented, and between 2014 and 2018, the National Housing Agency helped 38,426 women to become homeowners and provided 8,889 female heads of household and single mothers with social housing.

95.As for the measures taken to combat poverty and extreme poverty affecting persons with disabilities, Act No. 3925 established the National Solidarity and Equity Fund, which is endowed with an annual budget of 40 million bolivianos and has supported the implementation of projects and programmes to equip rehabilitation centres, provide technical employment training in various areas, build, upgrade and expand housing for persons with disabilities, promote access to justice and to ensure the availability of free social assistance.

Reply to paragraph 18 of the list of issues

Prevention and disaster recovery

96.The Ministry of Defence, through the Office of the Deputy Minister of Civil Defence, has prepared the National Programme for Disaster Risk Management 2016–2020 (Annex 15) to facilitate risk reduction and interventions in adverse events. It is also developing guidelines and manuals as part of risk management tools (Annex 16) in order to carry out disaster and/or emergency reduction and response tasks in coordination with other territorial authorities.

97.The Office of the Deputy Minister of Civil Defence has also prepared the document entitled “Water Management Alternatives for Coping with Drought” (Annex 17) in order to help strengthen the institutional capacities of municipal governments. The document also includes preventive measures with contingency plans and a forest fire operations manual (Annex 18) as a means of training the personnel involved in risk management in the autonomous territorial entities and in public and private institutions, as well as volunteers.

98.A gender-related regulatory framework for risk management and considerations relating to at-risk groups has been adopted. The framework includes guidelines for preparing municipal contingency plans, which set out measures to ensure that vulnerable groups receive assistance.

99.Following the outbreak of fires in 2019, a post-disaster recovery plan, which includes strategic lines of action and short, medium and long term measures, has been prepared (Annex 19).

Reforestation

100.The purpose of the Food Production and Forest Restitution Support Act (Act No. 337) is to establish an exceptional regime for the treatment of land that has been cleared without authorization and whose beneficiaries are covered by the Food Production and Forest Restitution Programme, which is of national and public interest.

101.The coordination unit of the Food Production and Forest Restitution Programme has a mandate to address instances of unauthorized deforestation by implementing and monitoring compliance with the different components of the Programme:

Food production; registration of land used for agriculture and the breeding of livestock; and advising beneficiaries on the production of strategic crops and on increasing livestock production.

Restitution of forests; keeping a record of the reforestation commitments concerning affected forest areas; overseeing the restitution of legal conservation easements; monitoring and assessment of compliance with restitution commitments by performing checks on live seedlings, planting intervals and the surface area restored.

102.As at the end of 2019, the coordination unit of the Food Production and Forest Restitution Programme had registered 18,574 plots of land – a surface area of 1,582,807 hectares – that had been cleared without authorization and subsequently restored, as detailed below.

No.	Department	Number of plots	Surface area of land cleared without authorization and subsequently restored	Percentage
1	Beni	2 851	165 261	10
2	Chuquisaca	2 914	13 464	0.9
3	Cochabamba	4	175	0.01
4	La Paz	107	4 507	0.3
5	Pando	825	108 935	6.9
6	Santa Cruz	10 964	1 251 360	79.1
7	Tarija	909	39 100	2.5
Total	18 574	1 582 802	100

Source: Ministry of Rural Development and Land.

103.Under its emergency and/or disaster protocol, the Ministry of Rural Development and Land assists affected communities by providing them with agricultural, veterinary and forage supplies to safeguard different species of livestock, which are often affected by frost, drought and other adverse events.

104.In order to promote communities that are resilient to climate change, the Ministry of Rural Development and Land implemented the project known as “Economic Inclusion for Families and Rural Communities” through the ACCESOS – BOLIVIA Programme.

Reply to paragraph 19 of the list of issues

Housing

105.A number of programmes are being implemented, including the Multi-Year Housing Shortage Reduction Plan 2016–2020, the New Housing Programme and the Housing Improvement, Refurbishment and Expansion Programme, whose priority target group is vulnerable families.

106.The National Housing Agency is the institution responsible for providing housing and habitation solutions. Between 2014 and 2018, 95,990 housing units were built, upgraded, expanded and/or renovated. Around 23 per cent of these housing units were allocated to older persons, persons with disabilities or women.

107.Social housing loans are available through the National Housing Agency, which subsidizes the cost of the property by a percentage that is determined in the related social assessment, taking into account the degree of vulnerability of the applicant family. Between 2014 and 2018, 4,592 housing loans were granted to 18,781 people. Under the Financial Services Act, 65,507 families received loans for social housing.

108.Supreme Decree No. 1955 provided for the relocation of at-risk families who suffered as a result of the adverse weather conditions that had affected several regions of the country.

Reply to paragraph 20 of the list of issues

109.The Multisectoral Zero Malnutrition Programme 2016–2020, which is part of the mandate of the technical committee of the National Food and Nutrition Council, gives priority treatment to the target populations of children under 5 years of age, pregnant women and women of childbearing age. It covers the capital and medium-sized cities of the country, where priority is given to peri-urban belts with high poverty levels.

110.The Multisectoral Zero Malnutrition Programme 2016–2020 and its associated measures have been implemented nationwide. In 2019, its target population stood at 1,212,463 children under 5 years of age and 2,927,922 women aged between 15 and 49 years.

111.The Multisectoral Zero Malnutrition Programme 2016–2020 sets a target of reducing mortality due to severe acute malnutrition in children under 5 years of age to less than 5 per cent by 2020. For this reason, the care units specializing in severe acute malnutrition are implementing several strategies focused on controlling and monitoring this condition.

112.As for monitoring and assessing the impact of the Multisectoral Zero Malnutrition Programme 2016–2020 on chronic malnutrition indicators for children under 2 years of age, in 2017 these stood at 11.17 per cent before falling to 8.37 per cent in 2019. The same indicator for children under 5 years of age stood at 12.38 per cent in 2017 before falling to 9.54 per cent in 2019.

113.Indicators of acute malnutrition in children under 2 years of age stood at 1.80 per cent in 2017 before falling to 1.59 per cent in 2019. The same indicator for children under 5 years of age rose by 8 per cent between 2018 and the first half of 2019.

114.The Multisectoral Zero Malnutrition Programme 2016–2020 also includes measures intended to improve the nutritional status of pregnant women and women of childbearing age (between 15 and 49 years of age). The data obtained show that moderate and severe anaemia is less prevalent among women aged between 15 and 49 years.

Native seeds

115.The National Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Innovation has carried out the following activities in an effort to preserve the collective ownership of native seeds:

The National Germ plasm Bank manages 19,618 accessions, comprising 2,304 forest accessions, 3,226 cereal accessions, 5,017 high Andean grain accessions, 617 in vitro accessions, 151 valley fruit accessions, 1,564 vegetable accessions, 16 legume forage accessions, 7 ornamental accessions, 2,428 legume accessions, 13 oil-seed accessions, 3,937 root crop accessions, 134 Andean root accessions, 164 native grass accessions and 26 forage accessions.

Repatriation of species and accessions from international banks: 666 accessions and/or races of maize, 19 species of wild potato comprising 571 accessions and 4 species of bean comprising 285 accessions.

Purification of five native varieties of maize: overo, gateado, morocho amarillo, amarillo romano and morado de pasorapa.

Reply to paragraph 21 of the list of issues

116.The Ministry of the Environment and Water is spearheading national information and educational campaigns on efficient water use intended to promote careful water consumption. The Ministry takes account of children and young people in its activities and in so doing promotes good water practices in daily life.

117.The Escazú Agreement was signed by Bolivia on 2 November 2018 and ratified by Act No. 1182 of 3 June 2019.

Reply to paragraph 22 of the list of issues

Access to drinking water

118.The drinking water and sanitation sector, faced with the challenge of reaching the target of 100 per cent coverage by 2025, developed a policy for the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, the purpose of which is to define the characteristics and priority actions for the exercise of these human rights (Annex 20).

119.The measures adopted to make basic services universally available include managing resources and carrying out water and sanitation projects, as described below.

No.	Programme	Target area	State
1	Aducción 1	Peri-urban	In progress
2	APCR	Rural	Completed
3	APPC KFW	Small-scale	In progress
4	Chuquiaguillo	Peri-urban	In progress
5	Ciudades	Peri-urban	In progress
6	Contravalor España	Peri-urban	In progress
7	Emerg Tgn	Peri-urban	In progress
8	Guadalquivir	Peri-urban	In progress
9	Mi Agua I	Rural	Completed
10	Mi Agua II	Rural	In progress
11	Mi Agua III	Rural	Completed
12	Mi Agua IV	Rural	In progress
13	Mi Agua V	Rural	In progress
14	Multiproposito	Peri-urban	In progress
15	PAAP I	Peri-urban	Completed
16	PAAP I	Peri-urban	In progress
17	PASAP	Peri-urban	In progress
18	PASAR	Rural	In progress
19	PASD	Peri-urban	In progress
20	PDSLT	Rural	Completed
21	PERIURBANO KFW	Peri-urban	In progress
22	PROAR	Peri-urban	In progress
23	PROASRED	Peri-urban	In progress
24	PROAS – TGN	Peri-urban	In progress
25	PROG CA SL	Rural	In progress
26	PSLT	Rural	In progress
27	Rio Rocha	Peri-urban	In progress
28	SAS PC	Small-scale	In progress
29	Sucre	Peri-urban	In progress

Source: Ministry of the Environment and Water.

120.Water and basic sanitation coverage is detailed below.

Department	2017	2018	2019[P]
Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural
Chuquisaca	79.6	99.6	59.6	79.9	99.6	59.9	80.6	99.6	60.9
La Paz	87.5	99.0	64.1	87.9	99.1	64.9	88.2	99.1	65.4
Cochabamba	74.9	79.5	64.3	75.3	79.9	64.8	75.8	80.4	65.0
Oruro	85.3	99.6	58.5	85.4	99.6	58.4	85.5	99.6	58.4
Potosí	80.4	99.2	66.9	80.8	99.2	67.4	81.1	99.3	67.6
Tarija	95.3	99.7	86.4	95.8	99.7	87.6	95.9	99.7	87.8
Santa Cruz	95.6	98.8	80.6	95.8	98.9	81.0	95.9	98.9	81.2
Beni	61.6	67.1	45.7	62.4	67.8	46.8	63.3	68.4	48.1
Pando	75.9	89.2	59.1	78.0	92.2	59.1	80.7	95.1	60.5
Nacional	85.7	94.1	66.9	86.1	94.3	67.5	86.4	94.4	67.9

Source: National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of the Environment and Water, Office of the Deputy Minister for Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation.

P Preliminary.

Reply to paragraph 23 of the list of issues

121.Through the 2012 SAFCI-MI SALUD programme, the Intercultural Community Family Health Policy, whose focus is health promotion and disease prevention, without overlooking curative health services or traditional medicine, is being applied in 312 municipalities across the country, where it has improved health care by mainstreaming a comprehensive and intercultural perspective. Under the Policy, a total of 18,642,844 health-care interventions (50.4 per cent during consultations and 49.6 per cent during family visits) and 2,701,725 family follow-up visits have taken place. More than 1 million families have a family folder and 527 specialists have received comprehensive training with an intercultural focus. In addition, 445 primary care facilities, such as neighbourhood clinics, have been set up in urban areas and 583 health units have been converted into health centres staffed by a doctor.

122.Act No. 1152 amended the Comprehensive Health Services Act to provide more persons who are not covered by short-term social security insurance with free health care as part of the transition towards a single, universal and free health system whose care model includes traditional medicine.

Reply to paragraph 24 of the list of issues

123.Contraceptive use has increased by 10 per cent since 2008 as a result of the availability of five different contraceptive methods and the training on contraceptive technology dispensed to health-care staff.

124.As mentioned in paragraph 136 of the periodic report, Constitutional Court decision No. SCP 0206/2014 of 5 February abolished the requirement to obtain judicial authorization in order to undergo a legal abortion when the pregnancy is a consequence of rape, statutory rape, incest, kidnapping or when the pregnancy endangers the life or health of the woman. Consequently, all that is required for the health service, whether public or private, to legally terminate the pregnancy is a copy of the complaint filed.

125.The technical procedure for the provision of health-care services devised by the Ministry of Health serves to regulate the provision of such services in the legal and safe termination of pregnancy.

126.With respect to therapeutic abortion, the Bolivian health system has clinical standards and protocols on the use of misoprostol in gynaecology and obstetrics for use by health-care staff. Recent legislative initiatives have touched upon this issue.

Reply to paragraph 25 of the list of issues

127.Through the Ministry of Education, the Bolivian State has developed a number of educational indicators, and processes and publishes information on yearly dropout rates, which makes it possible to measure and determine the percentage of students who dropped out of school before the end of the school year. Between 2010 and 2018, the following data were collected.

Dropout rate by year

Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Dropout rate (per cent)	3.42	2.20	2.65	2.89	2.88	3.32	3.39	2.65	2.53

Source: Ministry of Education.

128.As stated in paragraph 131 of the periodic report, in order to help reduce the school dropout rate, the Juancito Pinto grant, which is a yearly allowance of 200 bolivianos paid to all children and young people at the primary community vocational, secondary community productive and special education streams of the education system. During the period 2014–2019, 12,988,773 children and young people received 2,597.75 million bolivianos, as detailed below.

Juancito Pinto grant: number of recipients and amount paid per year

Recipients	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019(p)
Children and young people	2 132 393	2 152 969	2 156 464	2 171 532	2 182 792	2 192 623
Amount in millions of bolivianos	426.48	430.59	431.29	434.31	436.56	438.52

Source: Information provided by the Ministry of Education with data from the unit responsible for disbursing the Juancito Pinto grant.

p Preliminary.

129.Comprehensive educational support centres were set up within prisons to guarantee the right to education of the children and dependents of persons deprived of their liberty, who are vulnerable and socially disadvantaged. During the period 2014–2019, the following results were obtained.

Comprehensive educational support centres – prisons: number of centres set up and children and young people who benefited, and amount of investment per year

Project/Strategic lines of action	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019 (p)
Comprehensive educational support centres – prisons	11	15	16	16	16	16
Children and young people who benefited	254	526	1 446	1 337	1 518	1 107
Amount in bolivianos	103 843	2 861 978	395 883	210 154	0	247 983

Source: Information provided by the Ministry of Education with data from the Intracultural, Intercultural and Plurilingual Policy Unit.

130.The comprehensive educational support centres set up in hospital classrooms provide instruction to children and adolescents who are hospitalized and unable to attend school regularly, as detailed below.

Comprehensive educational support centres – hospitals: number of centres set up and children and young people who benefited, and amount of investment per year

Project/Strategic lines of action	2017	2018	2019
Comprehensive educational support centres – hospitals*	4	8	9
Children who benefited	348	2 938	1 335
Amount in bolivianos	87 296	966 940	659 122

Source: Intracultural, Intercultural and Multilingual Policy Unit.

131.A comprehensive educational assistance programme was implemented to help meet the educational needs of border, liberation and riverbank schools, with a view to ensuring that students living in rural border and riverside areas and Guaraní students stay in school and complete their studies. The programme is also intended to increase the State’s visibility in border regions and to enable those regions to develop their productive capacities and potential. The programme yielded the following results during the period 2015–2018.

Number of schools that benefited and amount of investment by component and year

Year	2015	2016	2017	2018	Total
56 beneficiary schools	3 472 311	1 025 085	881 966	630 333	6 009 695

Source: Ministry of Education.

132.As for the development of culturally appropriate content for indigenous original campesino nations and peoples and Afro-Bolivians, as stated in paragraph 159 of the periodic report, since 2014, 21 regional curricula have been developed, approved, harmonized and implemented for the primary community vocational and secondary community productive streams. Three regional curricula are also in the process of being approved and implemented by ministerial decision.

133.As for the measures taken to prevent discrimination and violence in the school system, the Ministry of Education issued Ministerial Decision No. 001/2020 to strengthen effective inter-agency coordination processes with a view to facilitating the prevention, investigation and punishment of offences related to violence against children and adolescents.

134.Supreme Decrees No. 1302 and No. 1320, and Ministerial Decisions No. 1204/2018, No. 1239/2018 and No. 564/2019, were issued in 2012 to address potential cases involving students’ suffering violence at the hands of teachers, principals and other administrative staff.

135.Since 2013, school defence lawyers have been hired to formally report any acts that threaten the life or physical, psychological and sexual integrity of children and adolescents and/or to join proceedings instituted against principals, teachers or administrative staff in the education system.

Reply to paragraph 26 of the list of issues

136.As pointed out in paragraphs 157 to 160 of the periodic report, different measures have been taken to preserve and promote indigenous languages and to promote the cultural participation of indigenous original campesino peoples and Afro-Bolivians.

137.Thus, pursuant to the General Act on Linguistic Rights and Policies (Act No. 269) and its implementing regulations, the Plurinational Public Management School and the Plurinational Institute of Languages and Cultures have delivered official language courses to 26,108 public servants, as detailed below.

Training of public servants by year

Year	No. of trainees	Percentage
2015	9 947	38
2016	2 155	8
2017	8 274	32
2018	3 180	12
2019	2 552	10
Total	26 108	100

Source: Office of the Deputy Minister for Decolonization.

Participants by language (2015–2019)

Language	Aymara	Quechua	Guaraní	Mojeño trinitario	Kavineña	Zamuco	Total
Total	13 275	11 527	326	233	172	125	26 108

Source: Office of the Deputy Minister for Decolonization.

138.The National System of Indigenous Radio Stations has been created in order to reduce the digital divide and to guarantee rural dwellers access to information and communication technology services. This has involved setting up of more than 100 radio stations throughout the country and thereby extending communication services to rural communities.

139.Likewise, in the technological sphere, the Agency of Electronic Governance and Information and Communication Technologies has implemented programmes and projects to reduce the digital divide related to education, gender and age, which include:

(a)The Digital Inclusion Programme for students, whose aim is to equip teachers and secondary school students from public or private schools with digital skills and knowledge through free software tools, thereby incorporating technology into teaching and learning methods. Between 2018 and 2019, the Programme benefited 257 schools, 3,067 teachers, 23,365 students and 770 volunteers nationwide.

(b)The Chicas Waskiris Project, whose aim is to develop girls’ and female adolescents’ practical and theoretical skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in order to encourage female students to specialize in a technological field. In 2019, 98 female students, 15 volunteers and 15 facilitators took part in activities related to the project.

(c)The Digital Agenda Initiative, whose purpose is to set collective short- and medium-term goals relating to information and communication technologies in an effort to transform the relationship between society, the State and the different regions of the country; and also to develop a public policy on technology in cooperation with the general public, paying special attention to persons with disabilities, social organizations, civil society, academia and the public and private sectors. In 2019, 1,573 proposals were collected from 2,835 participants across the country.

(d)A project to maintain and upgrade the State fibre-optic network, whose purpose is to increase the network’s coverage with a view to implementing a State data network that will bring about an improvement in the services provided by institutions to people living in urban and rural areas. The project yielded the following results:

Year	Kilometres covered	No. of entities connected
2017	15	23
2018	20	78
2019	-	96

Source: Agency of Electronic Governance and Information and Communication Technologies.

(e)The Procedural Streamlining Project, the aim of which is to computerize processes and procedures in order to expand the coverage of the services provided by State institutions, thereby helping to reduce the digital divide.

(f)The Digital Citizen Services Initiative. This consists of a digital citizen platform, which is in the process of being implemented and upgraded. Digital citizen services are intended to serve as a reliable and secure tool that Bolivians can use to communicate with the State. They can validate their identity digitally and thus exercise their rights and duties in the digital environment. Currently, 25,383 citizens are registered in the digital citizen system.