In 2019, the International Catholic Center of Geneva developed the project ‘Strengthening Bolivia’s civil society in the context of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)’, together with its member organizations Edmund Rice International and Marist International Solidarity Foundation as well as a Coalition of 18 civil society actors in Bolivia.
The project aimed to provide an avenue for the key human rights issues of the coalition to be brought to the attention of the international community on the occasion of the UPR.
Our main priorities:
- Child and youth participation
- Child labor
- Violence against women and children
Project activities
- In-country consultations in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, with several CSOs invited to finalize the UPR submission (in Spanish and English), consisting of recommendations to be presented to the government of Bolivia.
- Advocacy activities in Bolivia through bilateral meetings with Embassy representatives in La Paz. Two press conferences were held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba to raise awareness of the issues presented in the joint submission.
- Advocacy activities in Geneva. Two representatives from the Bolivian coalition participated in twenty-one bilateral meetings with Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva. In addition, one of them participated as speaker in the UPR Pre-session organized by UPR Info. A summary of the UPR submission was made available in Spanish and English.
- Side event ‘Addressing Implementation: Safeguarding the Rights of Children, Youth and Women in Bolivia’ held on 6 November 2019, in parallel with the UPR session, which provided the opportunity to highlight relevant recommendations directed to Bolivia, focusing on implementation. The Executive Summary of the Side Event was published in English and Spanish.
This project was realized with the support of the Canton of Geneva and Adveniat.
Impact
Upon completion of the project, the following results were achieved to strengthen advocacy efforts in Bolivia :
In 2022, the CCIG contributed to the follow-up project “Children’s and women’s rights in Bolivia: Follow up on the UN bodies recommendations”. Promoted by the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI), this project aimed to support local actors in their efforts towards better monitoring and implementation of children’s and women’s rights in Bolivia, by building up a Monitoring Plan for international human rights recommendations. As a result, local civil society actors were provided with a solid framework of indicators to stress the persistent implementation gaps regarding the right to participation of children and youth, child labor and violence against women and girls. Affected women, children and youth were also consulted to express their views on the human rights challenges they are facing.
Helping ground actors to monitor UPR recommendations in Bolivia
Throughout 2022, the CCIG has contributed to the follow-up project “Children’s and women’s rights in Bolivia: Follow up on the UN bodies recommendations”, initiated in
Follow up of UN UPR and CRC recommendations: CCIG online training for civil society in Bolivia
In collaboration with the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI) and the Marist Brothers in Bolivia, the CCIG implemented a new capacity building action addressed
CCIG delivers an oral statement under the general debate under item 6 on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for the follow-up of the UPR of Bolivia
On 18th March 2021, an oral statement (in English and Spanish) was delivered during the General Debate under Item 6 during the 46th session of
CCIG delivers an oral statement on violence against women in Bolivia
On the 12th March 2020 the UPR Working Group Report on Bolivia was adopted at the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council. Bolivia accepted
CCIG Hosts Side Event to mark the 34th UPR Session of Bolivia
On 6 November 2019, CCIG hosted the side event ‘Addressing Implementation: Safeguarding the Rights of Children, Youth and Women in Bolivia’ at the Palais des
Children, Youth and Women at the Forefront of CCIG UPR Submission for Bolivia
For the most recent UPR-info pre-sessions which were conducted in Geneva from the 8th to the 11th of October, CCIG facilitated the participation of a
Our partners
Mauricio Siñaniz Zambrana
Secretario FMSI en Bolivia
Responsable Equipo de Solidaridad Bolivia
Secretariado FMSI Bolivia
Phone (+591) 72720541
Office Cochabamba (+591) 4 4316072
Office Santa Cruz (+591) 3 3512723
Email: maurorsz@gmail.com