Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of the Plurinational State of Bolivia *

1.The Committee considered the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (CEDAW/C/BOL/5-6) at its 1317th and 1318th meetings, on 14 July 2015 (see CEDAW/C/SR.1317 and 1318). The Committee’s list of issues and questions is contained in CEDAW/C/BOL/Q/5-6 and the responses of the Plurinational State of Bolivia are contained in CEDAW/C/BOL/Q/5-6/Add.1.

A.Introduction

2.The Committee appreciates that the State party submitted its combined fifth and sixth periodic reports. It also appreciates the State party’s written replies to the list of issues and questions raised by the pre-sessional working group and welcomes the oral presentation by the delegation and the further clarifications provided in response to the questions posed orally by the Committee during the dialogue.

3.The Committee commends the State party on its delegation, which was headed by the Minister of Justice, Virginia Velasco, and included representatives of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the Permanent Representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

B.Positive aspects

4.The Committee welcomes the progress achieved since its consideration in 2008 of the State party’s combined second, third and fourth periodic reports (CEDAW/C/BOL/2-4) in undertaking legislative reform, in particular the adoption of the following legislation:

(a)Constitution of 2009, which establishes equality between women and men, sanctions gender-based violence and contains specific guarantees of women’s rights;

(b)Act No. 348 of 2013 (Comprehensive Act to Guarantee Women a Life Free from Violence) and its corresponding regulation in 2014;

(c)Act No. 243 of 28 May 2012, the Political Harassment and Violence against Women Act, which prohibits all forms of discrimination against women in public and political life;

(d)Avelino Siñani-Elizardo Pérez Education Act, No. 070 of 20 December 2010, which stipulates that education should be anti-patriarchal;

(e)Electoral System Act, No. 026 of 30 June 2010, which covers the application of the principles of gender equity, gender parity and alternation in the procedures for proposing, preselecting and electing persons for public office;

(f)Supreme Decree No. 66 of 3 April 2009, which establishes incentives for women to complete medical check-ups in order to reduce child and maternal mortality.

5.The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to improve its institutional and policy framework aimed at accelerating the elimination of discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, such as the adoption of the following:

(a)Comprehensive Plurinational System to Prevent, Address, Punish and Eliminate Gender-based Violence (2013-2015);

(b)Strategic Institutional Plan of the Ministry of Education for 2010-2014, which defines the approach to dismantling patriarchy through education;

(c)National Strategic Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health (2009-2015);

(d)National Human Rights Action Plan “Dignified Bolivia for Living Well” (2009-2013);

(e)National Equal Opportunity Plan “Women Building a New Bolivia for Living Well”, adopted by Supreme Decree No. 29850 of 10 December 2008.

6.The Committee welcomes the fact that, in the period since the consideration of the previous reports, the State party has ratified or acceded to the following instruments:

(a)Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), of the International Labour Organization (ILO), in 2012;

(b)Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2009;

(c)Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2009;

(d)International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, in 2008.

C.Principal areas of concern and recommendations

Plurinational Legislative Assembly

7. The Committee stresses the crucial role of the legislative branch in ensuring the full implementation of the Convention (see the statement by the Committee on its relationship with parliamentarians, adopted at the forty-fifth session, in 2010). It invites the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, in line with its mandate, to take the necessary steps regarding the implementation of the present concluding observations between now and the next reporting period under the Convention.

Constitutional and legislative framework

8.The Committee welcomes the inclusion of the principle of non-discrimination and gender equality in the Constitution and the pre-eminence of the Convention and all human rights treaties, but notes with concern:

(a)That the profound legislative transformations in favour of women need reinforcement and solid administrative support;

(b)That the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto have limited visibility and there is a lack of awareness of the Committee’s general recommendations on the part of all branches of government;

(c)The absence of information on court cases in which the provisions of the Convention have been directly invoked or applied.

9. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Establish strong accountability mechanisms for the implementation of laws in accordance with the constitutional rights of women and the Convention, with the allocation of adequate human, technical and budgetary resources;

(b) Take appropriate measures to ensure the appropriate dissemination of the Convention, the Optional Protocol thereto and the Committee’s general recommendations among relevant stakeholders, including government officials, parliamentarians, the judiciary, lawyers, law enforcement officers and community leaders, in order to promote awareness of women’s human rights in the State party;

(c) Encourage judges and lawyers to apply the provisions of the Convention in court proceedings and to take into consideration the jurisprudence of the Committee under the Optional Protocol;

(d) Ensure that law faculties provide courses in international human rights law, including the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto;

(e) Enhance women’s awareness of their rights and the means to enforce them, targeting specific groups of women such as indigenous women, Afro-Bolivian women living in rural and remote areas and women with disabilities, including by facilitating access to information on the Convention in indigenous languages and accessible formats aimed at reaching women with disabilities, in cooperation with civil society and the media.

Access to justice and remedies

10.The Committee welcomes the efforts made by the State party to offer comprehensive services of plurinational justice, but is concerned about:

(a)The persisting structural barriers in the “rural indigenous jurisdiction” and in the formal justice system that prevent women from gaining access to justice and obtaining redress, such as an insufficient number of courts across the territory, limited information regarding rights and judicial procedures available in the main indigenous languages and the limited coverage of legal aid schemes, given that only 45 per centof municipalities have established comprehensive municipal legal services;

(b)The lack of an institutional career path at the low and middle levels of the judicial system that limits the independence and impartiality of the judiciary;

(c)The gender stereotypes and limited specialized training and expertise among prosecutors, the police and judges on women’s rights;

(d)The delayed establishment of specialized courts exclusively dedicated to cases of violence against women, as envisaged in Act No. 348 of 2013 (Comprehensive Act to Guarantee Women a Life Free of Violence).

11. The Committee calls upon the State party:

(a) To accelerate the creation of courts and tribunals that guarantee women’s access to justice without discrimination throughout the territory of the State party, provide reliable official interpretation into indigenous languages in all judicial proceedings and ensure that women have effective access to free legal aid to claim their rights;

(b) To ensure the establishment of a professional career system at the lower and middle levels of the judiciary;

(c) To provide specialized training to all public officials involved in cases relating to the protection of women’s rights in all specific areas of law;

(d) To give priority to and allocate appropriate human and financial resources for the functioning of specialized courts that exclusively deal with cases of violence against women, in accordance with Act No. 348.

National machinery for the advancement of women

12.The Committee, reiterating the concern that it expressed in its concluding comments of 2008 (CEDAW/C/BOL/CO/4), wishes to call special attention to the following:

(a)The limited decision-making authority and the lack of human, technical and financial resources of the Deputy Minister for Equality of Opportunities at the Ministry of Justice and the Unit for Depatriarchalization and Decolonization at the Ministry of Culture to coordinate the implementation of public policies on gender equality;

(b)The absence of sufficient human, technical and financial resources to effectively implement, with adequate data, the National Plan for Equality of Opportunities;

(c)The lack of adequate mechanisms to enable more women’s organizations to participate in the implementation of policies and strategies in the areas covered by the Convention.

13. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Consider the establishment of a ministry of women’s affairs or other high-level office with authority to coordinate and articulate all public policies and strategies for gender equality and the advancement of women, including gender-responsive budgeting with relevant gender units operating at the subnational level;

(b) Accelerate the implementation of the National Plan for Equality of Opportunities by adopting a strategy that clearly defines the competencies of national and local authorities regarding the Plan, analysing official data and regularly monitoring and allocating adequate human and financial resources for its implementation;

(c) Ensure the broader participation of women’s organizations, including organizations of indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women, and women with disabilities in the implementation of the National Plan for Equality of Opportunities.

Temporary special measures

14.The Committee notes that the State party’s constitutional and legal framework provides for the implementation of temporary special measures, but notes with concern that the State party has adopted such measures only in the fields of political participation and the incorporation of women into the armed forces. It is also concerned about the lack of statistical information on the results achieved through the implementation of quotas for indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women in tertiary education.

15. In line with its general recommendation No. 25 on temporary special measures, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Adopt temporary special measures aimed at accelerating substantive equality between women and men in all areas covered by the Convention, including participation in economic life, education, health and social security;

(b) Disseminate information on temporary special measures to all branches of government, the police and the armed forces to emphasize the importance of such measures as a means to comply with the principle of substantive equality of women and men;

(c) Assess the impact of temporary special measures in granting access to tertiary education to indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women.

Stereotypes and discriminatory practices

16.The Committee commends the State party for its recognition of indigenous jurisdiction that does not contradict women’s human rights and for its awareness of the patriarchal roots of discrimination against women. It is concerned, however, about the persistence of discriminatory stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in the larger society that perpetuate discrimination against women in areas such as education, health and employment, as well as violence against women. The Committee is also concerned about gender stereotypes in the mass media, and sexist portrayals of women in particular.

17. The Committee recommends that the State party move:

(a) To develop a comprehensive strategy targeting women, men, girls and boys in order to overcome patriarchal and gender-based stereotypical attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in family and society, and strengthen awareness-raising campaigns at the community level;

(b) To ensure, through a substantial intercultural dialogue, that the rights of indigenous women are respected in all decision-making processes regarding harmful customary laws and practices affecting women;

(c) To adopt a strategy to raise the awareness of and provide training to public and private media workers on gender to prevent gender stereotypes in the media and in advertising, in cooperation with women’s organizations.

Violence against women

18.While noting that Act No. 348 (2013) establishes a comprehensive framework for guaranteeing women a life free from violence, the Committee is nevertheless concerned about:

(a)The prevalence of forms of violence against women, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence, in the State party and the lack of a strategy to prevent violence against women;

(b)The lack of updated disaggregated information on the number of reports of violence against women, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and the sentences imposed on perpetrators;

(c)The extremely low number of prosecutions and convictions of perpetrators in cases of violence against women, including in cases of femicide;

(d)The referral of cases of violence against women to conciliation procedures, the prohibition on doing so notwithstanding;

(e)The delay in the establishment of the “Genoveva Ríos” special police forces to combat violence against women, as mandated by Act No. 348, in particular in rural and remote areas;

(f)The lack of sufficient forensic medical personnel to examine women who are victims of violence;

(g)The insufficient support for victims of violence, including legal assistance, medical treatment, psychological counselling services and shelters.

19. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Develop, as a matter of priority and within a specific time frame, a strategy to prevent violence against women, with the participation of various stakeholders, including high-level government officials, and considering the special situations of risk to indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women, women with disabilities, migrant and refugee women and women in detention;

(b) Implement the single registry on domestic violence and the information system on domestic violence and ensure that periodic reports on violence against women are available and made public;

(c) Ensure that all cases of violence against women, including cases of femicide and sexual violence, are effectively investigated and prosecuted and perpetrators adequately punished;

(d) Ensure that cases of violence against women, including domestic violence, are under no circumstances referred to any alternative dispute resolution procedures;

(e) Strengthen the mandate of the “Genoveva Rí os” special police force against violence at the national, departmental and municipal levels and provide capacity-building to the police officers to enable them to discharge their duties in a gender-sensitive manner, and address stigmatization of victims of violence;

(f) Ensure that forensic medical personnel receive regular training on gender-sensitive examination and investigation procedures in cases of violence against women;

(g) Allocate sufficient funding for adequate shelters throughout Bolivian territory and provide women who are victims of violence with effective access to medical treatment, psychological counselling, legal assistance and other support services.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

20.The Committee notes with concern:

(a)The high and growing number of cases of trafficking in human beings, in particular women and children in border areas;

(b)Cases of internal trafficking of indigenous women for purposes of forced prostitution, in particular in areas in which major development projects are being implemented;

(c)The absence of shelters for women who are victims of trafficking outside La Paz and Santa Cruz and the lack of rehabilitation and reintegration services for victims;

(d)The harsh sentences imposed on victims of trafficking for criminal offences committed as a direct result of their trafficked status;

(e)The vulnerability of refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant women in transit through the State party who are at risk of falling prey to criminal trafficking networks;

(f)The lack of programmes to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of women in prostitution.

21. The Committee calls upon the State party:

(a) To undertake an assessment of the situation of trafficking in the State party as a baseline for measures to address trafficking and to improve the collection of data on trafficking disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity;

(b) To raise awareness, in particular among indigenous rural women, about trafficking in human beings, the methods employed by traffickers and measures for self-protection;

(c) To ensure the prompt implementation of the Plurinational Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings (2013-2017), including by providing the necessary human and financial resources;

(d) To reconsider the harsh sentences imposed on victims of trafficking for criminal offences;

(e) To establish shelters, provide rehabilitation and reintegration services for women who are victims of trafficking and disseminate information on shelters for victims of trafficking in all parts of the State party;

(f) To develop international bilateral or multilateral cooperation with countries in the region to address trafficking and prosecute traffickers;

(g) To address the root causes of prostitution and develop exit programmes for women in prostitution , including alternative income- generating opportunities for women who wish to leave prostitution.

Participation in political and public life

22.The Committee commends the State party for its progressive laws regarding women’s political participation and protection from gender-based political violence, as well as for the progress achieved in increasing women’s representation in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly to 53.1 per cent of deputies and 47.2 per cent of senators. The Committee is concerned, however, about the underrepresentation of women, especially indigenous women, in high-level decision-making positions in the Government, in particular at the departmental and municipal levels. It is also concerned about the low representation of women in the judiciary and the foreign service of the State party. The Committee is further concerned about the lack of prosecutions and convictions regarding complaints of gender-based political violence and harassment.

23. The Committee calls upon the State party:

(a) To adopt temporary special measures, including statutory quotas, in accordance with article 4 (1) of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25, to promote the equal participation of women, especially indigenous women, in national, departmental and municipal governments, the judiciary and the international representation of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, especially in high-level decision-making positions, and to monitor the progress achieved;

(b) To e stablish a programme aimed at combating the prevailing stereotypes of women in politics, raising awareness of the importance of the free and equal participation of women, in particular indigenous women, in political life;

(c) To d evelop targeted training and mentoring programmes on leadership and negotiation skills for current and potential women candidates and women holding public office;

(d) To p rosecute and adequately punish perpetrators in cases of gender-based political violence.

Education

24.While the Committee recognizes the high level of investment in education by the State party, it notes with concern the absence of data disaggregated by age, ethnicity and social status on the access of girls to education, in particular girls’ enrolment, completion and dropout rates at all levels of education. Those data would permit a substantive and ongoing assessment of equality and non‑discrimination in the sphere of education. It is also concerned about the fact that the courses offered at indigenous universities do not adequately cover multiculturalism and diversity. It is further concerned about the 30 per cent dropout rate owing to teenage pregnancy and the absence of education in sexual and reproductive health and rights within the education system. The Committee notes the measures taken by the State party to address sexual violence against girls in the education system.

25. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Establish a data collection system to assess access by girls and women to all levels of education, disaggregated by age, ethnicity and social status;

(b) Ensure that the solidarity scholarship programme set up by the Ministry of Education allocates scholarships for women on an equal basis with men to guarantee access to tertiary education;

(c) Ensure that indigenous women have access to education in compliance with the criteria enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (General Assembly resolution 61/295);

(d) Conduct assessments and surveys on girls’ dropout rates, with a view to identifying the most affected groups of girls, disaggregated by age, ethnicity and differences among regions, and use the results as a basis for the implementation of measures to address dropout rates and ensure that girls and women have access to all levels of education, including tertiary education;

(e) Design and implement a nationwide campaign to eliminate stereotypes that count for sex segregation of the curriculum with the aim of accelerating girls’ participation in non-traditional areas;

(f) Strengthen protective measures for girls against sexual violence in the education environment.

Employment

26.The Committee is concerned about a persistent gender gap in employment, including:

(a)Women’s limited access to formal employment, in particular managerial positions, in almost all sectors of the economy;

(b)The lack of measures to protect women from harassment and discrimination in the workplace;

(c)The disproportionately high number of women working in the informal sector and de facto barriers to access to social security;

(d)Exploitation of women and girls in domestic work, where girls can be employed from 10 years of age under the State party’s legislation.

27. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Promote women’s access to formal employment and adopt a time-bound plan to implement ILO Recommendation No. 204 concerning the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy (2015), with a view to facilitating women’s access to the formal economy;

(b) Take measures, such as temporary special measures, to promote women’s access to managerial positions, including specific calls for promotion of women and training in leadership skills for women in all areas of the economy, and conduct campaigns raising awareness among employers of the equality of women and men in employment;

(c) Develop a system for filing confidential complaints on sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace and ensure that victims have effective access to redress;

(d) Ensure that women and girls who are domestic workers have access to effective remedies to file complaints about abusive conduct and exploitation by their employers and monitor their conditions and terms of work;

(e) Conduct a new survey on child labour and raise the minimum age of work to 15 years for girls and boys in accordance with the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), of ILO.

Health

28.The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the State party to enhance the provision of health services for women, including through the provision of ancestral medicine, but is concerned about:

(a)The persistently high rates of maternal mortality and the limited access to health infrastructures for pregnant women, in particular for indigenous women and in rural areas;

(b)The lack of comprehensive education on sexual and reproductive health and rights and family planning services, and limited access to modern contraceptives, including emergency contraception;

(c)The high rate of teenage pregnancy, which can lead to increased maternal mortality;

(d)The criminalization of abortion, the restrictive conditions under which abortion is available and the lack of implementation of the rule issued by the Constitutional Court in 2014 abolishing the requirement of judicial authorization for abortion in cases of rape.

29. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Strengthen measures to reduce the maternal mortality rate and ensure the provision of essential obstetric care for pregnant women, in particular in rural and remote areas and among indigenous women and women of African descent;

(b) Introduce age-appropriate school education on sexual and reproductive health and rights and ensure affordable access to services and information on sexual and reproductive rights for adolescent girls and boys, conduct awareness-raising campaigns about modern contraceptive methods in indigenous languages and increase access to safe and affordable contraceptives throughout the State party;

(c) Amend relevant legal provisions to decriminalize abortion and ensure that it is legally available in cases of threats to the life or health of the pregnant woman, rape, incest and serious impairment of the foetus, in addition to ensuring the appropriate implementation of the Constitutional Court ruling abolishing the requirement of judicial authorization for access to abortion in cases of rape or incest.

Economic empowerment of women

30.The Committee commends the State party for its economic growth, redistribution of wealth and eradication of extreme poverty, but is concerned about the persistence of poverty in female-headed households and the absence of information on the concrete impact of social programmes on the lives of women. It is also concerned about the lack of measures to ensure that indigenous and rural women can participate in the benefits of the implementation of development projects within their territories.

31. The Committee recommends that the State party continue to strengthen its programmes to combat poverty. It also recommends that the State party establish credit and finance schemes available to women, paying special attention to women in rural areas, indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women, women with disabilities and older women.

Rural women

32.The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the State party to improve the living conditions of rural women, but remains concerned about:

(a)Rural women’s limited access to land titles and ownership owing to the lack of identification documents to demonstrate land ownership and lack of knowledge of the regulations and procedures for obtaining land titles;

(b)Limited participation of women in decision-making processes concerning the use of land and means of production;

(c)Rural women’s limited access to adequate health care, education, public transportation, food, water and sanitation, income-generating opportunities and social protection.

33. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Ensure that rural women have equal access to land as men, including by raising awareness among them and the public in general of the importance of women’s equal access to land as a factor for development and for achieving substantive equality of women with men;

(b) Ensure that the interests of local communities, including those of rural women, are protected when developing land policies and allocating land, and ensure that the traditional users of land can enjoy access to property;

(c) Ensure that rural women have equal access to basic services and infrastructure, such as health care, education, public transportation, food, water and sanitation, income-generating opportunities and social protection on an equal basis with men and also with their urban counterparts, including through the adoption of temporary special measures, in accordance with article 4 (1) of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25.

Indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women

34.The Committee notes with concern that indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women lack appropriate means to express their free, prior and informed consent in the approval of large-scale projects for the exploitation of natural resources. The Committee is also concerned about the multiple impacts of such projects on women’s living conditions. Further concern exists about the situation of Guarani women who depend on working in agriculture and livestock and do not receive compensation or remuneration.

35. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Implement adequate consultation processes to seek the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous and Afro-Bolivian women in decision-making processes that authorize large-scale projects for the exploitation of natural resources in their ancestral territories;

(b) Take measures to ensure that companies executing projects for the exploitation of natural resources adequately compensate women living in territories and areas affected by such projects;

(c) Take measures to prohibit and discourage all forms of slave labour affecting Guarani women.

Migrant and refugee women

36.The Committee is concerned about the situation of migrant and refugee women who face violence and abuse and who are subjected to smuggling and sexual violence, in particular Colombian women in transit to Chile who are fleeing violence. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of protection from unscrupulous border agents and criminal networks active in the border areas. Additional concern exists about the many refugee and asylum-seeking women who lacked adequate information about their rights and who suffered sexual and gender-based violence.

37. The Committee recommends, in line with its general recommendation No.  32 on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women, that the State party address the risk of smuggling and sexual violence against women and adopt measures to prevent and to ensure the sanction of the abuse of women who are in need of international protection. It also recommends strengthening law enforcement in border areas. Lastly, it recommends the adoption of protocols developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for conducting the refugee status determination process in a gender-sensitive manner, with full respect for the procedural rights of women, including individual interviews by trained female interviewers and interpreters.

Marriage and family relations

38.The Committee welcomes Act No. 603, adopted in 2014 to promulgate the new Family and Family Procedure Code, which brings into line its family law with the Convention, recognizing different types of families. The Committee is concerned, however, about the challenges in its implementation, including the 18‑year minimum age of marriage for women and men, the lack of information about awareness-raising and dissemination campaigns among women, especially in indigenous languages, regarding the principle of equality between women and men in marriage and family relations and in cases of their dissolution. There is further concern about the lack of information on customary laws and practices in the area of inheritance and measures to ensure that customary law upholds women’s access to inheritance, including inheritance of land, as well as on measures taken to ensure recognition of unremunerated domestic work within the distribution of marital property.

39. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Effectively enforce its legislation contained in the Family and Family Procedure Code, including on marriages of girls under 18 years of age, through sanctions in cases of breach of its provisions and address separation and dissolution of marriage as well as de facto unions in line with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 29 on article 16 of the Convention (economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution);

(b) Carry out awareness-raising and education programmes directed at both women and men, including in indigenous languages, in cooperation with civil society, on the content of the new provisions of the Family and Family Procedure Code, and ensure that judicial and administrative authorities are aware of the new provisions and apply them effectively;

(c) Ensure that customary law in the area of inheritance complies with the principle of equality between women and men;

(d) Take all measures necessary to ensure that unremunerated domestic work is adequately taken into consideration within the legal regulation of distribution of marital property.

Amendment to article 20 (1) of the Convention

40. The Committee calls upon the State party to accept, as soon as possible, the amendment to article 20 (1) of the Convention concerning the meeting time of the Committee.

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

41. The Committee calls upon the State party to use the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in its efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention .

Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 development framework

42. The Committee calls for the integration of a gender perspective, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, into all efforts aimed at the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and into the post-2015 development framework.

Dissemination

43. The Committee recalls the obligation of the State party to systematically and continuously implement the provisions of the Convention. It urges the State party to give priority attention to the implementation of the present concluding observations and recommendations between now and the submission of the next periodic report. The Committee therefore requests that the present concluding observations be disseminated in a timely manner, in the official languages of the State party, to the relevant State institutions at all levels (national, regional and local), in particular to the Government, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and the judiciary, to enable their full implementation. It encourages the State party to collaborate with all stakeholders concerned, such as employers’ associations, trade unions, human rights and women’s organizations, universities, research institutions and the media. It further recommends that its concluding observations be disseminated in an appropriate form at the local community level, so as to enable their implementation. In addition, the Committee requests the State party to continue to disseminate the Convention, the Optional Protocol thereto and relevant jurisprudence, in addition to the Committee’s general recommendations , to all stakeholders.

Technical assistance

44. The Committee recommends that the State party link the implementation of the Convention to its development efforts and that it avail itself of regional or international technical assistance in this respect, including through the United Nations system.

Follow-up to the concluding observations

45. The Committee requests the State party to provide, within two years, written information on the steps taken to implement the recommendations contained in paragraphs 19 (a) and (e) and 29 (b) and (c) above.

Preparation of the next report

46. The Committee invites the State party to submit its seventh periodic report in July 2019.

47. The Committee requests the State party to follow the harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents ( HRI/GEN/2/Rev.6 , chap. I).